


Life is Good

by LeisurelyPanda



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: (chapter 20 only), Craig is secretly really romantic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dadsona is a horror movie enthusiast, Dates, Domestic Fluff, Early Mornings, Everyone's just really cute and yall better hope you got good dentists, Fluff and Smut, It's Maple Bay's worst kept secret but still, Light BDSM, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Rated for future chapters, Smut, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-11-11
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:19:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 41,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeisurelyPanda/pseuds/LeisurelyPanda
Summary: Craig wakes up and thinks of all the things he's grateful for about his bro/boyfriend as he gets ready for the day. This is basically just unadulterated fluff and I have no shame.





	1. Early Morning

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, wonker8.

The alarm clock blared, the noisy reminder that real life was waiting, rudely piercing the peaceful quiet of Craig's bedroom. He groaned as he opened his eyes, glaring at the offensive, red numbers before he turned the alarm off. He sighed. Mornings were so busy. Then again, nearly everything about his life was busy. He'd have to get up, dress, wake up his girls, get them ready for school, make a healthy breakfast, and get them out the door before his morning workout. Then he'd have to get to work himself. 

He groaned again, but got up. He didn’t bother waking his bro up yet. Behind him, Andrew moaned at the loss of warmth and Craig smiled down at his bro/boyfriend. Andrew's long red hair obscured his face a bit, messy from a night of spotty sleep. River had been restless last night, but Andrew had gotten up every time so Craig could get some rest. 

Admiring his bro wasn't going to help him get ready, so he turned so that he could actually dress himself. _I'm so lucky_ , Craig thought to himself. Being a single dad was rough. He had forgotten how much easier parenting was with a partner. Another set of hands to help get ready in the morning. Another person who can pick up the girls. Someone to help keep the house clean (though Andrew himself remained as disorganized as he had been in college). Not to mention having a second income in the home was a huge help. Craig got by fine with the income from his business, but even then there were times when money was tight and there were sometimes restless nights when had worried about how he was going to pay for everything. Having his boyfriend around to help out with the bills made life much easier.

Not to mention that it was nice to have someone share his bed again. Not just in a sexual way, though that was great too. But in an intimate way. Sleeping next to someone, cuddling, waking up next to his boyfriend and kissing him until he was awake and ready to get up, lying down again at night in each other’s arms… it filled Craig’s heart with joy. He had loved Smashely, of course, and he had been heartbroken when they divorced, but Andrew was more than what she had been. He was his bro and now he was his partner, his lover, his soulmate.

He went into the master bathroom and went through his morning routine, making sure to close the door so that he wouldn’t disturb Andrew. He didn’t bother showering since he would only get sweaty and gross later when he worked out. No point in wasting water you didn’t have to. That’s what Andrew always said, anyway. Usually right before they had sex in the shower. Or right after they’d had sex and had to clean off. Which usually led to shower sex. Not that Craig was complaining. When he was done, he walked back out to his bedroom. He smiled again at his bro, still sleeping soundly. The house was, mercifully, quiet. _Thank God for small mercies_ , Craig thought. He pulled on his sweatpants and a workout hoodie. Fall had settled in and the weather was cooling rapidly. He'd have to remember to get the twins to dress warmly, too. 

He sat down on the bed in front of Andrew to lace up his shoes. Andrew groaned, "Broooooo..."

Craig grinned, pushing his hair out of his face as he leaned down to kiss his forehead. "Come on, bro," he whispered. "It's time to get ready."

Andrew opened his eyes to glare at his bro, but the attempt was ruined by his smile and blushing cheeks. "Bro," he repeated.

Craig chuckled. "Yeah, dude what is it? Gotta get the kids ready for school."

"It's Saturday, Craig," he grumbled. Craig blinked, then looked down at his phone. Sure enough, the bright screen revealed the date. Saturday, October 14th. 

"Get back to bed, Superdad," his boyfriend mumbled as he closed his eyes again, “before you wake up the girls.”

Craig smiled, "You got it bro." He took off his shoes and shirt, climbed in next to him and wrapped his arms around Andrew, letting his boyfriend's warmth carry him back to sleep.

_Life is good._


	2. The Bro and the Girls

Craig had a nagging suspicion that Andrew was getting his kids hooked on unhealthy breakfasts. Before he moved in, he never made his kids hashbrowns, fried eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes. Maybe when they went out to the diner, but he always made his kids healthy food. Fruit, eggs, and such. Certainly not sugary cereal featured in commercials when his kids were watching tv.

That wasn’t to say that he didn’t get anything out of letting his bro cook. It was kinda sexy and adorable to watch him cook and see his daughters making a mess out of pancake mix and chocolate chips. By the time breakfast was done, 1) it was nearly brunch time and 2) his kids and bro looked like they got more pancake mix on their bodies than they used for the actual pancakes. Though he did silently worry whether Andrew was a (charmingly) bad influence on them.

_That being said, he is really good at making breakfast,_ Craig thought to himself as he grudgingly enjoyed some fried potatoes and over easy eggs. _At least he hasn't given them coffee or something,_ he thought. His kids definitely didn't need that. He was hoping to keep the knowledge of its existence from them for until they were at least 16 when their childhood energy has tapered off.

"Dad?" asked one of the twins.

"Yes, Briar?" he asked. "What's up, kid?"

"Can we have get a dog?"

Suddenly he was coughing up a storm and Andrew started thumping his back until he had it under control.

"A dog?" he asked. "When did this come up?"

Hazel climbed into his lap. "Well, we just thought that it'd be nice to have a dog. And it would be great opportunity to learn about responsibility."

"Uh-huh," Andrew said as he shoved more pancake in his mouth.

_Oh great he's been through this before,_ thought Craig. _My bro's got this._

Andrew swallowed. "Amanda put you up to this, didn't she?"

Briar and Hazel looked at him, trying to look like the innocent children they technically were. "Nooo?" They chorused.

Andrew chuckled, and Craig was briefly distracted by his boyfriend's laugh lines. He was glad that his bro had been happy, more or less, since college.

"What do you think, dude," Andrew asked him. "Can the girls have a dog?"

Craig picked at the rest of his plate, then leaned in to kiss his daughter on the cheek. Just then, River started fussing "We'll see."

***********************************************************************************

That evening after the kids were put to bed and Craig and Andrew were getting in their nightly cuddle, watching Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers. Craig had to admit, he had absolutely no idea what was happening, but it was awesome. The show and the cuddle. His bro was great at cuddling.

"So what so you think?" Craig asked his bro.

"Eh, this episode is good, but it's not the best they've ever aired," Andrew said noncommittally.

Craig laughed. "Not the show, about getting a dog."

"Oh," he replied eloquently. "Well, I guess I haven't thought about it much. It's your house and they're your daughters, after all."

Craig frowned and looked down at his boyfriend. "Dude, you live here, too. You have as much say as I do. And as far as my girls are concerned, you have as much a hand in raising them as I do."

Andrew sighed. "I don't know dude. You're the one who models a healthy lifestyle, coaches their softball team, you volunteer for their school, you have your own business, and you still make time for them at home. You do so much for your girls, and it's amazing."

Craig turned the tv off and reached over his boyfriend's shoulder and took his hand and laced their fingers together. "Andrew, babe, you do so much for my girls. Hell they probably think of you as a dad already. You make my kids laugh, you make their lives fun. Remember last week when you were messing around with my kids?"

Andrew laughed. "Yeah, they rode around on my back shouting 'Pony' and giving me orders."

Craig beamed. "Yeah, dude, that was the most beautiful, adorable thing I've ever seen. My girls' lives are better with you here. That makes you their dad in my book."

"Bro, you're gonna make me cry," Andrew said, his voice cracking. Craig looked down to see that there were, in fact, tears in his eyes. He rolled his boyfriend over and held his face, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

"I love you, Andrew. My girls love you, I know it. Never forget that, bro."

Andrew leaned in and kissed him, slowly and sensually and filled with love.

"Deal," he said with tears still in his eyes. "I love you, too. And for the record, I'd love to get a dog, but can we really handle it?"

Craig smiled. "Bro, it's just a dog. How bad could it be?"


	3. Puppy Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig and Andrew take the girls to the dog shelter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, as always, to my beta, wonker8.

“So where are we going, dad?” Hazel asked as Craig was strapping River into the car seat. It was a week or so after the twins had asked him if they could have a dog. In all honesty, Andrew was still convinced that Amanda had put the twins up to this, because the girls had been suspiciously well-behaved and helpful during that past week. Even Craig knew that they were trying to butter them up. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out.

“You’ll see,” he said, suppressing a grin as he saw his daughters pump their arms victoriously out of the corner of his eye. _They might not be so enthusiastic when they find out what’s in store for them._

“All set?” Andrew asked from the driver’s seat.

“Yeah, bro we’re good.”

Andrew started the car and they drove off towards the city. It was a beautiful fall day. The trees in the neighborhood and the nearby park were all starting to turn. “We’ll have to go to the park today before it gets too cold,” he said. 

Craig’s face lit up. “Bro, I was just thinking the same thing!” he said. “We can run some laps and do a hill run and look out over the park and see all the trees turning. It’ll be awesome!”

Briar, made a gagging noise. “Dad,” she complained, “you’re not going to make kissy faces with him again are you?”

Craig laughed. “Would that embarrass you, kiddo?” he asked.

“Yes,” the twins chorused.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with that dangerous, mischievous gleam that Andrew recognized all too well. “Then I will absolutely make kissy faces with my bro,” he declared. “Right in the middle of the park for everyone to see.”

“Aww, bro,” Andrew said, keeping his eyes on the road. “That’s so sweet.”

Craig took his hand and laced their fingers together, briefly. “Anything for you, dude.”  
Briar and Hazel looked like they were about to puke.

 

Eventually they pulled into the parking lot for one of the local dog shelters. The twins bounced up and down in their seats while River played with Arnold the Capybara, completely indifferent to what was going on. 

“We’re going to get a dog???” Hazel said. “I want a big, fluffy one!”

Briar was, apparently, right on board with this. “Yeah, like a St. Bernard!”

Craig’s eyebrows rose as he thought about picking up after and taking care of one of those big, hairy dogs from those Beethoven movies in the ‘90s. “I’m not promising you anything like that, girls,” he said as he strapped River to his chest.

They walked through the front doors and met the sound of dogs barking and howling, though the lobby seemed to be somewhat sound-proofed so that the workers could at least hear themselves think. Briar and Hazel ran up to the front desk and stood on their tip toes as they looked at the receptionist. “We’re here to get a dog,” they said.

The woman at the desk smiled down. “Aww aren’t you two cute. What kind of dog?”

“A big, fluffy St. Bernard!”

The receptionist laughed. “Oh, I’m afraid we don’t have any of those here,” she said.

_Oh thank God,_ Craig thought.

“But we do have a couple Burnese Mountain dog puppies that just came in yesterday, and they’re almost like St. Bernards, but they shed more and they’re easier to train.”

The girls gasped and beamed. _Why, God? Why?_ Craig thought.

“They’re also great family dogs and they don’t drool,” she said. _Well, that’s something._

“We’re not actually here to adopt today,” Craig interrupted. “We’re here to volunteer.”

“Oh are you the Cahns?” she asked. “Yes, I have you down for today. If you’ll come right this way when you’re ready.” The receptionist walked through a heavy door, leaving the family alone for a minute.

The twins looked up at their father, accusations ready. “You said we were getting a dog,” Briar whined.

Craig sighed. “Kids, taking care of a dog is a big responsibility. My bro and I told you about Carl, once, right? Our “third roommate” in college? He was a little beagle and it was a lot of work.”

“We can take care of it, dad! Promise!” Hazel cried.

“Yeah, we’ll feed it and wash it and take it on walks and everything!” Briar agreed.

Craig smiled down at his girls and knelt down in front of them, putting one hand on each of their shoulders. “I believe you, but first you need to understand what all that means. So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to volunteer here at the shelter every weekend for a month and after that if you can handle everything that goes into taking care of a dog, we’ll adopt one from here.”

Their faces brightened. “Can it be one of the Burnese Mountain dog puppies?” Briar asked.

Craig suppressed a groan. “We’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr! :D
> 
> https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	4. Autumn Picnics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig and Andrew run around the park while the girls go off and do their own thing with Brian and Maxwell.

Craig and Andrew finished their last lap around the park. Craig was feeling pumped, a much better feeling overall than how he had felt after they left the shelter. Cleaning out dog kennels, while for the noble cause of teaching his kids responsibility, was never fun. And he was proud that his girls helped out rather than just sat around petting dogs. But the first thing they did when they left the shelter was go home and clean themselves up. An hour later they piled back into the car and drove off to the park.

Hazel and Briar were throwing a frisbee around with Brian and his dog, Maxwell while he, Andrew, and River were off running. It was a beautiful, misty morning at the park. The air was crisp and cool and the ground was littered with colorful, crunchy leaves. Whoever maintained the park made sure to be less proactive about it during the fall, so the leaves could fall on the ground and kids and their families could play around in them. Craig was having a blast running around the park, listening to the leaves crunch as he and Andrew took advantage of the fall weather. 

Craig was so proud of his bro. He still remembered the first time they had come running in the park, when they had ended their workout with a mission to find River’s stuffed Capybara, Arnold. That workout had been rough on his bro, as much as he had tried to be cool about it. Now, Andrew had stronger legs, he could run for longer periods, go faster, and he wasn’t as winded when they finished their runs as he used to be. The best part? His butt looked better than ever. Craig loved it.

They ran up to the top of the hill. This was the part that made him the most proud of his boyfriend. This hill was rough at the best of times, but Andrew could handle it a lot better than he used to. He wasn’t bracing himself on his knees anymore. Still breathing hard, but that’s to be expected.

They turned around and looked out at the park bellow them. Hazel and Briar were still throwing a frisbee around, though now it seems Daisy has joined in. The sun is high in the sky by now, bathing the park below in the gentle, autumn sunshine that makes the trees seem practically ablaze in orange and yellow hues. Standing alone at the top of the hill, everything was beautiful and serene, ignoring the couple catching their breathe and the baby’s occasional fussing. 

 

“I can’t believe that’s the same hill we ran up the first time we did this,” Andrew said, his breathe a little short. “It’s so much easier now, I don’t feel like I’m dying.”

Craig laughed and flung an arm around his bro’s shoulders. “I’m so proud of you, bro. You’ve come so far.”

Andrew grinned. “Do I get a reward, bro?”

Craig grinned. “You wanna embarrass my kids in front of the neighbors?”

Andrew kissed his cheek and took his hand to walk down the hill. “Hell yeah.”

Embarrassing his kids turned out to be easier than they thought, but no less satisfying. Mat Sella and Hugo Vega were there with their kids (Ernest didn’t even seem to be setting fire to anything yet, thankfully), and along with Brian, were all too happy to help embarrass them. Namely, by shouting out, cheering, and giving wolf whistles when Craig and Andrew appeared from the hill trail holding hands and kissing in the middle of the field. Briar, Hazel, and the other kids ran away towards the playground shouting, “Eww gross,” their dads’ laughter chasing them the whole way. 

Craig went back to the car and got out a blanket and a cooler filled with protein shakes, roast beef sandwiches, and other healthy snacks for the kids. It was still warm enough, if barely, to enjoy an outdoor lunch, they might as well enjoy it while they could before Maine settled into the wintery abyss for the next several months. Craig set the blanket down near the playground where his girls were playing and set the cooler and River down on it before he sat down and motioned his boyfriend over with a sandwich. 

Hazel and Briar ran around with some other kids they met on the playground swinging on swings and sliding down slides. Craig watched as Andrew made plane noises while feeding River baby food. She laughed and clapped her hands as the spoon flew up and made little circles and then into her mouth. A little bit dribbled out of her mouth and Craig wiped it gently. 

_Life is good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my lovely beta, wonker8 Find me on tumblr for various geek-related nonsense.
> 
> https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	5. Burning the Midnight Oil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew has to work late because a client is being troublesome.

_I suppose there are worse jobs than being an engineer,_ Andrew thought one day, sitting in his cubicle. He knew, of course, that being an engineer was actually a great job. He got health insurance, paid vacation time (not including holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving), and he got weekends off. He could also afford to take a day off on occasion as long as worked from home. But sometimes… sometimes clients could be a real pain in the ass. And not the good kind, either.

Suddenly his phone buzzed. He looked down, hoping to God it wasn’t one of his coworkers who needed help with something on the project. He might just lose it if someone needed him to redo some calculations, which would take ALL DAY! And of course with a deadline looming, he really couldn’t afford to take the time to make sure the other people on his team hadn’t screwed up.

Blessedly, it wasn’t. It was from Craig. 

_Hey bro, you wanna get lunch?_

Andrew smiled, but his heart sunk. 

_Sorry bro, the client has been demanding today, I’ll have to work through lunch. Might have to work late to make the deadline, too._

A few minutes later, he responded. _Aww bro, that’s rough. I’ll save you some food tonight. Love you!_

Bless this bro, Andrew thought. _Thanks bro. Love you too._

The rest of his day was more or less uneventful. Calculations took a while, especially when they ended up being a couple hundred pages long. Thankfully no one else in his team needed him to redo something because the client was being… particular. A few hours later, someone knocked outside his cubicle. For the love of—

“Andrew Willson?” an unfamiliar voice said.

Andrew turned to see someone with a vase of flowers. Roses. There was a card in the bouquet. 

“Oh, uh, thanks,” he said, realizing that Andrew Willson was his name and the flowers were for him. He took the vase, small enough for his cubicle, but big enough to be touching.

The delivery lady held out one of those digital screens that you sign with your finger. Andrew left a sloppy signature that would never in a million years pass for his actual one.

“Thank you, have a good day,” she said and walked away.

Andrew set the vase down next to his computer and took out the note. In flowing, typed script it said, “Hang in there, bro. –Craig.”

He felt his heart melt a little. No one had ever given him a bouquet of flowers before, though Damien had hinted at one point that he had to remember to put snapdragons in it when he made him one. That still hadn’t happened. Probably because everyone in the cul-de-sac knew that he and Craig were an item.

He tried to pay attention to his work after that, but he found himself distracted by thinking of Craig and gazing at the flowers he sent. He could be really romantic at times. Which was great because apparently Andrew could be a romantic sap nearly as often. There was that one time, though that Craig had tried to do the whole candlelit dinner thing and Andrew, the infamous accidental pyromaniac, had knocked over one of the candles and set the tablecloth on fire. They ate dinner with the lights on, with Craig laughing at him.

 _Great now I’m trying to work and Craig’s being sweet and he’s not even around so I can thank him properly,_ he thought. _Asshole._

He made himself get back to work. There was only a few hours left before he was finished with the work for today and he could justifiably make it out of the office. It would only take longer if he kept daydreaming. He would really prefer to make it home before 8 so he could spend some time with his family—

Wait.

How long have I been thinking about Craig’s daughters as his own? He thought. Sure, Craig already considers me as their second father and insists that they see me as one, but when did I start thinking that? Not that he minded. He loved the girls and their antics (it had been even worse when Amanda had been around in the summer egging them on). He loved helping them with homework and watching them play sports. He loved going on runs with Craig and River. He loved raising River, teaching her to walk, talk, and, most importantly, use the potty. That would be important down the line. 

_I gotta talk about this with Craig later,_ he thought. In the meantime, he got back to work.

 _I love my family,_ he thought. _Life is good._


	6. Can I Watch?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are away for the weekend, so naturally Craig and Andrew decide to move the last of Andrew's belongings to Craig's house. Craig makes a fascinating, nsfw discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the summary says, this is nsfw. This is also newer than much of the story at this point, coming right before Lazy Weekends
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense. :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/

The next weekend Briar, Hazel, and River went to Smashley’s house as soon as they were done with their volunteering at the shelter Friday evening. Craig and Andrew finally got around to grabbing the last of the boxes from his house and unpacking them. It was amazing how long moving took, even when it was just across the street. Maybe it was just that there was no hurry, considering that they were so close to the old house that they didn’t feel a huge hurry to actually do it all at once. His bro still technically owned the house, though they had been talking about selling it as soon as the last of his belongings were cleared out. The plus side of moving in with a boyfriend who already owned a house was that they didn’t actually have to worry about moving into another one. Once the old house was sold, that was it. A little extra cash to spend on an extension when the weather warmed up again and they could settle in to their mutual domesticity. 

Andrew deposited one of the boxes in their walk-in closet but refused to specify what was actually in it. It wasn’t a big box, but Craig was pretty sure that they had already moved all of his clothes months ago. But what else might go into a closet? As he returned to the living room to unpack the last box, Craig’s curiosity got the better of him.

He entered the closet and found the box hidden under some linens. Maybe I should just ask what’s in the box, he thought briefly. Unfortunately, his curiosity was too strong and he opened the box. He immediately understood why this was one of the last boxes and why his boyfriend had waited for a weekend when they weren’t busy and the girls were away to get it. _I doubt anyone but him knew that he even had these,_ he thought, amazed.

Inside was a collection of silicone dildos of varying colors and sizes. _Well, he was widowed several years after Amanda was born and never had the chance to get with anyone since then,_ he thought, taking one of the dildos out and examining it. He imagined his bro fucking himself on one of these. It was kind of a hot image, he admitted, feeling himself harden. 

He picked up another one and his eyes widened. In his hand was a dildo larger than his own cock. It was about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. _Shit!_ Craig thought. _How did he fit this in his ass?_ He had taken a while to get used to Craig’s cock their first time in the woods, and even then someone had brought lube along, thankfully.

He had to know. 

Craig made his way out to the living room where Andrew was unpacking the last box. It was cookbooks or something, Craig wasn’t really paying attention. 

“Well, 3 months after we start living together,” Andrew said triumphantly, “and the last of the boxes has been successfully unpacked. I’d say that’s a record, but I’ve personally only moved once, when Amanda and I moved to this neighborhood.”

Craig smiled, remembering the first day they had met after so many years. It had been like a breath of fresh air. From the past. “Yeah, dude, that was one of the best days of my life, seeing you again.”

Andrew blushed. He blushed so prettily, it made Craig’s skip a beat every time it happened. “Bro, that’s so sweet.”

Craig chuckled, his nerves getting the best of him. Andrew frowned. “What is it? Is something wrong?” he asked.

Craig cleared his throat. “No, nothing’s wrong, I just… looked in the box in the closet…”

Andrew’s eyes went wide and his face became red as a tomato. “Oh God, you saw that!”

“Dude, babe, it’s fine, don’t panic,” Craig said, reaching out to him. “It’s fine, I get it.”

Andrew seemed a bit mortified. “No one in the world knew about that box. I went through a lot of meticulous pains to make sure of that.”

Craig frowned. “Yeah, I know, babe. I’m sorry I went snooping.”

His bro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “So,” he said. “Someone’s finally found my dildo collection. At least it’s you and not someone else.”

Craig smiled sheepishly. “Speaking of which, I had two questions,” he said. 

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What is it?”

“The big one in your box,” he said. Andrew nodded. It was hard not to know which one he was talking about. “It’s bigger than me. How did you fit it all in??”

Andrew grinned at the look on his lover’s face. “Very carefully.”

Craig grinned. “Can I watch?”

Andrew’s face, which had been recovering from his mortification started to redden again. “W-Watch?”

Craig’s eyes gleamed with excitement and mischief. “Yeah, babe. I want to watch you fuck yourself on a dildo. If you’re… up for it?” Craig glanced down at his bro’s crotch for emphasis.

Andrew snorted at the horrible pun, realizing that he was hard. “Hell yeah.”

They went back to the room. As soon as the door was closed, Andrew shoved Craig against the door, kissing him fiercely. Craig reached up and pulled the hair band out of his boyfriend’s hair, letting his red hair fall loosely around his shoulders. He loved seeing him come undone, hair down, dripping with sweat, his face flushed as he moaned with pleasure. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. No one could convince him otherwise.

Craig grabbed Andrew’s shirt and tore it off him, tossing it aside. His hands roamed over his chest. He leaned down to kiss and suck at his neck, Andrew mewling desperately. He felt him grab his own shirt and he obediently raised his hands so his lover could take it off. His heart raced as their chests met each other. He felt his hands graze over his nipples and he moaned. God... he thought. Before he knew it hands were replaced by a mouth and tongue. “Shiiit…” he hissed. Andrew sucked and nipped at his chest and it drove him wild. He reached down and started palming his cock. It was painfully hard, especially now that his mind was on all the things his bro could do with that mouth of his.

He took his bro off and reached down to unbuckle his jeans. He bent and shoved them down to the floor, boxers and all and took Andrew’s cock in his hand, tugging it a couple times. Andrew released a breathy moan. “Ahh… remember what you came for, love,” he gasped.

Craig grinned. “I can’t wait to see you fuck yourself on that thing,” he whispered into his ear. He felt Andrew shiver with anticipation. “Need any help?” he asked, still gently tugging on his lover’s dick.

Andrew could barely respond. It was beautiful to watch. “You could… unghh… help prep me...” he ground out. 

Craig looked into his lover’s eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “Still waiting to hear something.”

Andrew glared at him. “Aahh… please, Craig…”

“Please what? Tell me what you want, baby.”

“God… please eat my… Jesus, ass out, Craig!”  
Craig chuckled and took his hand off Andrew’s dick. “With pleasure.” He picked him up walked over to their bed and set him down with his ass in the air. _God this ass,_ he thought, _I’ll never get enough of it._

He bent down and, realizing Andrew had taken the time to clean himself earlier, _He must have been wanting to do something today, too,_ he thought, spread his ass apart and started licking it, making long, sensual swipes with his tongue. Andrew moaned and bucked his hips against Craig’s face. This was probably his lover’s favorite part, and Craig made sure to make it worth it. 

Eventually he pulled back and walked to the nightstand and pulled out the bottle of lube. He poured a generous amount on his first two fingers. Andrew moaned softly as he inserted his first, then second finger. When he seemed sufficiently stretched, he asked. “So how do you want to do this?”

Andrew whined as Craig’s fingers left his ass. “Gimme the lube,” he said. He reached over and grabbed the dildo off to the side and poured another generous amount on and spread it until it was slick. Then he reached down and slowly inserted the large toy. 

Craig watched, a bit amazed, honestly that his boyfriend could handle so much. Not that he felt insecure, he knew Andrew really enjoyed bottoming for him. But it was still hot to watch him fuck himself on this thing. He began to jerk himself off absentmindedly. Daaamn.

Andrew paused halfway through. Craig reached up with his other hand and stroked his lover’s hair. “You good, bro?” he whispered. 

Andrew released a breath and took another deep one. “Yeah, it’s just been a while,” he said. 

Craig nodded. “You need anything?”

Andrew replied, “Actually, could you get under me?” Craig complied and laid back against the headboard and spread his legs to make room for his lover. Andrew braced himself against it and with his other hand slowly inserted the rest of the dildo into his ass. He gasped as he adjusted to the size of the toy, a bit bigger than he had become accustomed to.

Craig released a breath and kissed his boyfriend. “You’re so beautiful, you know that?”

Andrew grinned. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he hissed and reached back and began to fuck himself slowly. 

Craig looked over his boyfriend’s shoulder and watched the dildo fuck him. “Shiiit… man that’s hot…” He reached down between them and took their cocks in his hand and began to stroke them.

Eventually Andrew began fucking himself faster and bucked his hips into Craig’s fist, feeling their cocks together stroke together. It was amazing. He wasn’t sure how long he would last.

“Craig, babe, I’m close he said.”

Craig began to stroke faster. “Unngh… me too.” 

Andrew moaned and shook as his orgasm swept through his body, his come spilling over Craig’s hand and onto his cock. Craig came too, feeling his lover’s cock pulse in his hand against his cock. 

Andrew collapsed against him gasping for breath. “God… that was amazing…” he breathed.

Craig smiled and wiped his hair from his face. “That was hot as hell,” he said as he gently kissed him. He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed a hand towel and wiped the come off their torsos. Then he reached down and, gently, pulled the dildo out of his boyfriend’s ass. 

“How do you wash these things, anyway?” he asked, but when he looked up at his lover, he was already sound asleep. Craig smiled and wrapped the dildo in the towel. _I suppose we can just let that wait until later,_ he thought. He set that aside and climbed back into bed with his bro and let his head rest against his chest.

_Life is good._


	7. Lazy Weekends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew and Craig wake up after taking advantage of the fact that the girls are at Smashley's for the weekend.

Andrew woke up feeling sore and sated. He still remembered seeing Craig’s amazed face as he had watched him fuck himself on one of the toys he had used to satisfy himself after his husband, Alex, had died. That hadn’t even been his favorite. It was a bit large for his comfort, though it was always nice to have options. It had been worth it to see his bro watch in awe. That was hot. Maybe they could do it again sometime, though some wicked part of him imagined his bro sinking down on one of them just to see how he reacted to it.

Somehow no matter what he and his bro did together in bed, it left him feeling immensely satisfied, like he had just run a marathon (not that he had ever done that or planned on doing that), or like he had just finished eating at an all-you-can-eat pancake event (much better). He felt Craig’s arms around him, the comforting, safe, warmth of his embrace making him feel secure and loved. He turned over so that he could face Craig. He was always so peaceful when he was asleep. That was half the reason he took care of River in the night, so that he could stay asleep, peaceful. It was utterly lovely.

The moment was a bit ruined by his stomach, which decided that since he was now sexually satisfied, it was time for food. Craig stirred in his sleep. Damn, Andrew thought. The moment was gone the moment he opened his eyes and looked into Andrew’s eyes. He stretched out and yawned loudly. “Sleep well, bro?”

Andrew breathed in deeply. “Yeah,” he said, smiling broadly as he looked into Craig’s warm brown eyes. “That was amazing.”

Craig laughed and rubbed his neck. “Dude, that was hot as hell.” He kissed his bro and tightened his embrace to bring him closer to him.

Andrew closed his eyes and sighed contentedly. “I’m glad you liked it,” he whispered against his lover’s lips. “And as much as I’d like to stay here, we should probably clean off.” His stomach growled again, craving attention.

Craig chuckled. “And apparently we need to get some food in you, too.” 

“What can I say, bro?” Andrew joked. “I’m a man with simple needs. Besides it’s like, 5:00 in the afternoon. We’ve missed lunch.”

Craig grinned. “We can’t have that, bro,” he said. “So, shower first, then food? Or food first, then shower?”

Andrew answered immediately. “Shower first, then lunch. I feel gross.”

There was some simple pleasure in cooking together. Maybe it was just another sign that he was getting old, but Andrew really, deeply enjoyed cooking with his bro. It added another layer of their relationship that hadn’t existed at all when they were roommates in college. They made food that was healthy, and Andrew actually got good enough at cooking that he stopped setting himself on fire… mostly.

Craig was currently cooking chicken, onions, and mushrooms in a pan with some kind of white cream sauce. Rice was cooking on one of the back burners and next to him, Andrew was cooking Brussel sprouts in olive oil, garlic cloves, and basil. The kitchen was filled with such delicious smells that Andrew was about to just eat the food right off the stove. Craig turned to him and held up a spoon for him to taste. Andrew opened his mouth obediently and immediately tasted an amazing, savory sauce.

“Bro,” he said, “broooo that’s incredible. Please tell me that it’s done.”

“Yeah, dude don’t worry soup’s up,” Craig said.

“Why do we even say that?” Andrew asked as he got out a pair of flat bowls. “I mean, we don’t even make soup most of the time. Last time I tried it was just some of that stuff out of a can.”

Craig grinned. “Why? Did you burn the soup you tried to cook yourself?”

Andrew glared playfully at his bro, setting the dishes down on the table. “No, as a matter of fact I didn’t. Just my sleeve… Which spread to the vegetables I had chopped.”

Craig laughed and took his bro’s face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together as he looked into his green eyes. “Bro, I’ve never known anyone so good at starting fires in their home but so bad at getting one going outside.”

“It’s a curse,” he sighed. “Now shut up and feed me.”

Craig picked up the pan and a spatula. “I live to please.”

As they ate the food, reminiscing about the many fires Andrew had started over the years and marveled at how they had never had to call a fire truck, Andrew thought to himself, _I’m so lucky to have a life like this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my lovely beta, wonker8. Comments and kudos give me life!
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related stuff. https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	8. Devils in the Theater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew finally gets the chance to repay Craig for the flowers he sent to his workplace with a date night. And of course, since it's almost Halloween, they go to see a horror movie.

In return for the flowers, Andrew decided that the best way to thank Craig was a dinner and movie night. The kind of date they never seemed to have time for, which was insane considering their first date when they became a couple was camping out in the middle of the woods for a weekend. Fortunately, Damien instantly agreed to watch the girls when he heard about Craig’s gesture (an arrangement which worried Craig, but Andrew insisted they’d be fine). They had dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, then headed to the movie theater.

When they arrived they stood staring at the show times. There was a rom-com, an action flick, and a couple horror movies since it was almost Halloween, a possessed space-cowboy movie, a suburban prostitute/serial killer movie, and a witch/vampire medieval movie. The theater also showcased various classic horror movies for the Halloween season. One in particular coming up soon was a French movie, _Les Diaboliques._

“What do you think bro?” Craig asked. “Classic scary movie or modern scary movie?”

“Ooooh bro, I don’t know,” Andrew said with excitement. “Possessed space-cowboys sounds like a horror spin on Firefly and I’m all about that.

“But also _Les Diaboliques_ is a classic. I’ve always wanted to see it on the big screen, but alas, the movie is a little younger than our parents!”

“It’s a 1950s French movie,” Craig said. “How bad could it be, dude? And what’s Firefly?”

Andrew glared playfully at his bro. “Just for that, we’re seeing _Les Diaboliques._ You’re gonna eat those words, bro. And what do you mean by ‘What’s Firefly?’ I can’t believe we’ve been together this long and you don’t know what that is! This is a travesty and I have to fix.”

Craig smiled and took his hand and laced their fingers together. “I think I’ll be fine, bro. Whatever you say.”

They approached the booth and ordered their tickets. The teenager behind the glass window looked at their choice. “Oooh good choice,” she said. “And great timing! You two got the last two tickets! Enjoy!”

They heard a few groans from the people in line as the sign above blinked from the show time to “Sold Out”

“No going back now,” Andrew grinned, taking his bro’s hand as he walked through the doors to the concessions stand. “Though it sounds like we could make a killing selling these tickets.”

Craig rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, dude. How bad could it be?”

 

Craig was really trying to play it cool. The truth was he was a bit nervous about seeing the movie. It turned out to be about a school principal’s wife and mistress who, upon discovering that they’re being played, decide to kill the asshole. But it definitely wasn’t what Craig expected of modern horror movies. No gore or torture or jump scares. This one had him sitting on the edge of his seat and holding his bro’s hand. He peaked at Andrew at some point in the movie and his boyfriend looked at him and smirked as he leaned in and whispered, “Is this scary enough for you, bro?”

Craig really needed to stop giving the universe so many chances to put his foot in his mouth. It was getting old at this point, but he was determined to make it through the date for his bro’s sake.

He must have been shaking because Andrew covered the hand he was holding with his other hand. It was warm and soft and steady, like somehow his bro had become a fan of horror movies since their college days. “Hey,” he whispered. “I got you, bro.” Andrew kissed his hand for emphasis.

_Okay, okay. I’m good. We’re good,_ Craig thought. _Nothing to worry about._

At that moment a hand reached out and grabbed one of the women on screen and several people screamed along with her, including Craig. _God dammit, universe!_

It wasn’t a bad movie, though. It was great! There was a lot of psychological horror, rather than the stuff he’d come to expect from horror movies. Like Saw. God, he couldn’t stand Saw, and there was absolutely no way those movies would show up in his house as long as his girls lived there. 

_Well, maybe when they turn 16, if they’re somehow into that sort of thing by then,_ he thought. 

Craig was enjoying himself, despite being scared to death half the time. He could see why this movie in particular was a classic in the horror genre. And truth be told, even though he could handle modern horror movies, he wasn’t really a fan of them. Though maybe if he watched them with Andrew he could be, if his bro was a fan of those movies, too. He’d make it through this one in one piece, first, of course.

 

“So what did you think, Craig?” Andrew asked as they made their way out to the car. “Good movie?”

Craig opened the door, practically jumping from all the adrenaline in his veins. “Bro, that movie was great! That ending fucked with my mind! That entire movie fucked with my mind, man! Would it be wimpy of me to say that if you hadn’t been holding my hand I’m not sure if I could’ve made it through it?”

Andrew grinned and leaned over to kiss Craig on the cheek. “No, it makes you a brave man who can admit that he was afraid. Very sexy.”

Craig blushed a bit. “How did you make it through the first time?”

Andrew thought back for a bit. “Let’s see… it would have been with Alex shortly before we adopted Amanda, and we were at home, he held my hand while I hid behind a pillow. I stayed up the whole night with the lights on until the sun came up and fell asleep at work the next morning.”

Craig smiled and started the car. “Good thing it’s a Friday, then.”

They rehashed the movie during the drive home. Every time Craig jumped, every time someone in the audience screamed, and every time Andrew screamed (it was good to know that his bro had been scared as well). By the time they arrived at Damien’s house, Craig felt like he might be able to sleep that night, provided Damien hadn’t terrified his girls or something.

They knocked politely at the door and a moment later, Damien stood there with his three girls in tow smiling with delight.

“How were they?” he asked.

Damien smiled. “They were delightful. River slept almost the whole time, so she might be a bit restless tonight.”

“Mr. Bloodmarch read us Frankenstein!” Hazel said.

Damien chuckled. “Some of it, at any rate,” he admitted. “I fear the tale is a bit lengthy to read in a single evening. I hope your evening was enjoyable. It is far too lovely a night to not take advantage of.”

Andrew smiled. “It was great. We saw _Les Diaboliques._ ”

Damien paled. “Oh dear, that’s quite a movie. It’s… a classic. And… utterly appropriate for the season.”

Briar tugged on Andrew’s pant leg and he leaned down to pick her up. “Can you take Dad out for another date sometime so we can hear the rest of it?” she asked.

Andrew chuckled. “Well, I’d love to take him out on more dates, but why don’t we ask Mr. Bloodmarch how he feels about it? Maybe if you ask nicely he’ll agree.” He put Briar down.

The twins looked up at Damien, eyes full of wonder and innocence. “Please Mr. Bloodmarch?” They pleaded. “Will you babysit us again and read us the rest of the story?”

Damien smiled and bent down to look them in the eyes. “My stars, it’s wonderful to see young kids so interested in literature,” he said. “I’d be delighted to, my dears, but only if you behave for your parents.”

“We will!” they promised.

Craig smiled and looked down at his watch. It was nearly 10:30! “It’s getting late,” he said, taking River from Damien. “We’d best be getting home. Thanks again, dude!”

Damien waved. “My pleasure! Good night!”

As they walked back to their house Craig had the sneaky suspicion that Damien might make goths out of his girls. Though if they turned out like him, that might not be so bad. “So girls,” he said. “You got any ideas for what you wanna be for Halloween?”

Apparently his suspicions were justified. “I want to be Dr. Frankenstein!” Briar said. 

“Frankenstein?” he asked. “You want to be a monster?”

Briar rolled her eyes. “No dad, Dr. Frankenstein is the guy who made the monster. Hazel wants to be Frankenstein’s monster.”

_Oh God it’s happening already,_ Craig thought. Next to him, Andrew chuckled.

“At least one of them wants to be a doctor,” Craig said to him.

“Yeah,” Andrew replied, approaching the house. “A doctor with a god-complex and a penchant for grave robbing, but still.”

“I’m trying to be optimistic, bro,” Craig said as he turned the key and opened the door.

_Home sweet home,_ he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always for reading and to my lovely beta, wonker8. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense. If you have requests for future chapters, I'll listen, but no guarantees.  
> https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	9. Halloween Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween. The people dress up, shenanigans ensue, and Craig must put aside his parental instincts to be very afraid of how much candy his girls accumulate over the course of the evening. Andrew gets a new name.

The day finally came that all young children of the United States look forward to for the entire month of October: Halloween. Craig and Andrew went to work early a couple days in advance so they could leave early that day, pick the kids up from school, cook an early dinner and help them get their costumes ready for trick-or-treating. The entire neighborhood was decked out in Halloween decorations. Even Robert had some Jack-o’-lanterns on the steps leading up to his house and glowing ghosts hanging in his windows.

For Andrew, it had been years since Amanda had gone trick-or-treating, though that hadn’t stopped her from stealing candy from the people who just left their candy out on the front step. He didn’t mind. In his book, if you didn’t want to participate in the fun of Halloween, you shouldn’t leave candy out for anyone to take. He was excited to go out with Craig and his girls and experience the fun and spooky wonder of the holiday.

Right now though, he was trying to get Hazel to stay still so he could apply some green face paint for her Frankenstein’s monster costume. Ever since the night Damien first watched them, Hazel and Briar had been in a horror book phase. They had borrowed all the Goosebumps books from the local and school libraries.

“Hazel, if you want to be Frankenstein’s monster you have to stop squirming every time I put on the face paint,” he said.

“You’re not even painting my face,” she cried. “My hands aren’t my face!”

“Just be grateful we aren’t in Florida,” he said. “We’d have to apply more to account for the sweat. And you’d be wearing short sleeves instead of long ones, so we’d need even more.”

“Florida sounds terrible,” she said. “I’m glad we live in Maine.”

Andrew chuckled and got another dollop of green face paint to apply to her other hand. “Me too, kiddo. Me too.”

Craig popped in, apparently finished with Briar’s costume. He was dressed as Thor (the Chris Hemsworth version, anyway), complete with the long, red cape, a blond wig, and a plastic hammer. Andrew was trying to behave, but it was difficult when he firmly believed in taking every available opportunity to admire his bro’s muscles. He had nice muscles.

“You two ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah, just gotta get this stuff off my hands and I’ll be ready,” Andrew said.

“What are you going as, dad?” Hazel asked.

Craig gestured at his suit. “I’m Thor, the superhero,” he said.

Hazel shook her head. “Not you, dad. The other one.”

Andrew and Craig exchanged a glance. “I guess I’m the other one,” he said, smiling.

Craig chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Yeah, we’re gonna have to find a different name for you,” he replied. “How do you feel about ‘Pops’ or ‘Papa’?”

Andrew thought for a moment. “Well, Amanda has called me ‘Pops’ for years now, it seems special between us,” he mused. “I think I’d like to be called ‘Papa.’”

Craig turned to his daughter. “Here that? From now on, I’m Dad and he’s Papa.”

Hazel nodded. “Okay, but can Papa get dressed? I’m ready to get candy,” she whined.

Craig laughed and picked up his daughter and carried out of the room. “Don’t sass your Papa, now,” he said.

_I can get used to this,_ Andrew thought. _But maybe after we’re done trick-or-treating._ He started getting dressed in his Hawkeye costume. Andrew decided that if his bro’s twins were going to be matching, then he could go along with whatever theme Craig decided to go as. Thankfully, there were no shortages of Marvel Cinematic Universe costumes to be found on the Internet and the one he got in the mail last week fit. 

_Life is good,_ he thought.

The neighborhood was packed with trick-or-treaters. Andrew had a funny feeling that it was due in part to the fact that Damien’s house looked like something from the Addams family, and so perpetually observing Halloween. As they made their way around the neighborhood, Mary was drinking wine and actually looked to be enjoying herself. She actually smiled as she asked the kids who they were and put whole Snickers bars in their Jack-o’-lantern buckets. Andrew was a bit surprised that the candy wasn’t wrapped in Bible verses, but he was still getting used to a youth pastor who wasn’t a Bible thumper, though he made a mental note to come back around after they were done. Anyone who gave out whole candy bars was worth a return trip.

Hugo was having fun jumping out and scaring kids in a luchador outfit, complete with a mask and everything after Ernest gave them candy. Though he spared Craig’s kids. Andrew grinned at his trivia partner.

“Having fun getting revenge?” he asked.

Hugo laughed. “Serves some of the little rascals right,” he declared. “And my son is having a blast, too. He hasn’t blown up one trash can or lit one dumpster on fire… yet.”

Craig laughed. “Good luck, dude, and try not to have too much fun!”

Hugo pulled his mask back down over his face and walked back in the house to take his place for the next victi—kids, rather. Kids. Not victims. “I think I’ll manage somehow,” he called after them.

Next up was Brian, who had a bob for apples station in the front yard and was dressed as a police officer. And wrapped candy apples for the kids who couldn’t quite manage to get one. Andrew resisted the urge to talk about past Halloween accomplishments that may or may not have actually occurred. But as soon as he saw the bob for apples station he looked at Craig. He didn’t even have to say anything.

“Bro, I’ve got this,” he boasted. “Hold River.” He unstrapped River from his chest (there was something really domestically hot about Craig dressed as Thor with River on his chest like always). She was dressed as a, what had Amanda called the costume she sent? A… Pikachu? Yeah that was it. It was cute, whatever it was. They made sure to get a picture for Amanda. She cooed as she played with Arnold.

He approached the metal bin and set his wig down beside him. He braced himself on the edge of the bin, took a deep breath, and plunged his head beneath the surface. A moment later he emerged with a golden apple in his mouth and the bystanders cheered. Brian held out a towel for him to dry his hair off on and shouted. “Folks we have a winner!” His prize, apparently, was a huge, two by four Hershey’s chocolate bar, which Craig looked at in amazement, and a little bit of horror. Andrew, Briar, and Hazel cheered wildly at the beautiful sight of the magnificent chocolate bar.

Craig walked back over to his family only to be attacked by his twins hugging his legs. “You did it, daddy! You did it!” they chorused.

“Bro,” he said as they walked away with their treasure. “how are we gonna eat all this chocolate?”

Andrew laughed, “Oh you of little faith.”

They walked back to the house and dropped off the chocolate bar (which was heavier than it looked) and continued with their trick or treating. Next up was Mat, who was playing spooky music on the front lawn and handing out packs of chocolate covered espresso beans. A treat for the kids, a trick for the parents all in one. Pablo and some other teens were dancing to Thriller in the yard. Pablo broke formation long enough to wave at Andrew before getting back to it.

Robert had his candy out on his front porch. _Hell yeah, extras,_ Andrew thought. “Kids, make sure to grab extra candy from this one.”

Craig frowned. “Uuh, bro… I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Relax bro,” he replied. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

At that very moment a huge hairy creature jumped out of the bushes near the candy. Briar and Hazel screamed. Andrew might have too, he wasn’t sure. The three of them hid behind Craig (and River). Craig grinned and pointed his hammer at the monster. “Hey dude,” he said in his best Thor voice, “not cool.”

The beast laughed and removed his head. It was Robert. Of course it was. 

“Good job, Papa,” Hazel said.

“What’d I do?” Andrew demanded.

“Mr. Small always scares people who try to take extra candy,” Briar said glaring pointedly at Andrew.

“It’s true,” Robert said. “Gotta make sure the youngsters toe the line, follow the rules.”

“You hate rules,” Andrew retorted safely from behind Craig.

“Yeah, gotta stick it to the establishment,” Robert replied. “But I don’t want kids ending up like me.”

“Fair enough.”

Robert walked over to them and knelt down in front of the girls and held up a couple candy bars. “Here, sorry for scaring you. You’re good kids.” he said. He put his mask back on and got back in the bushes.

“What do you say to Mr. Small, girls?” Craig asked.

“Thank you!”

He turned to his boyfriend and smirked. “He got you good, didn’t he?”

Andrew huffed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. It was all part of the act.”

“Uh-huh. Sure, bro,” Craig said. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Brotect you!”

“My hero.”

Last up was Damien, who was sitting out on his front porch with a crystal ball and a deck of tarot cards. The house was, more or less, unchanged but there were ghostly decorations and a large bowl of candy. As they approached the Victorian house, the house that might have given some kids the creeps, the twins ran up fearlessly.

“Trick-or-treat!” they cried.

“Oh dear! Dr. Frankenstein and his monster!” Damien replied in mock fright, “Please don’t hurt this humble fortuneteller!” He held out the bowl of candy to appease the monsters in front of him.

“Thank you!” they chorused.

“Mr. Bloodmarch,” Briar said, “are we near the end of the story?”

“Almost,” he replied, gazing into his crystal ball. “I see that we shall soon arrive at the long awaited conclusion of our thrilling tale of the modern Prometheus. Prepare yourselves.” The twins gasped, smiles spreading over their faces with the prospect of hearing how the story would end.

“I guess that means that we’ll be going on a date, soon,” Andrew smiled. “Not that I mind.”

Craig leaned in. “Who says we have to go out?” he asked. “We could always stay in. With some wine, some chocolate. Just you and me, bro. And the bed.”

Andrew moaned quietly. “Bro, never mind, that sounds wonderful.”

The rest of the night passed more or less uneventfully. They left the neighborhood and went trick-or-treating in the area around their neighborhood. Eventually Andrew and Craig ended up carrying the buckets that finally became too heavy for the twins. They finally ended up heading back to the house when Briar was tired and Andrew picked her up and set her on his shoulders. When they got back they deposited Briar in the twins’ bedroom and got Hazel into the shower so she could wash off the green body paint on her face and hands. 

Andrew and Craig inspected the girls’ candy and deeming it all safe, put it on the top shelf of the pantry so they wouldn’t be able to eat the whole thing at once. They went to the living room and turned the tv on. The Addams Family was playing, a perfect, not scary Halloween movie. Andrew thought about the evening he had with his family, how they were calling him Papa now, the family they formed in the past few months. It was so good. He couldn’t remember being so happy since his husband had died. He took Craig’s hand and leaned back against his chest. They stayed that way until they both drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my lovely beta, wonker8. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense. https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com


	10. Football Season

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the weekend and the Cahn family decides to see the local high school team play

The weekend after Halloween featured a home high school football game and Craig practically jumped at the chance to take his kids out for a game. Sometimes he really regretted not getting into shape until he became a dad because football quickly became his favorite sport. His girls were already into America’s Pastime (in a way), but they enjoyed watching football. Andrew enjoyed watching them watch football, though he did get animated when his team was on.

It was a crispy fall morning, but not unbearably cold. Mid 40s. Perfect weather for a football game as long as you dressed warmly and stayed relatively active and jumping up to cheer for the home team was a great way to do that. Plus his kids got in free since they were enrolled in the school system. Well, River wasn’t but she was too young to be charged admission. They packed plenty of thermals of hot chocolate for the girls, coffee for the adults, and of course, River’s bottle of formula.

They all piled out of the car, Andrew taking River and making sure that her hat was secured and her ears would stay warm. Hazel and River raced to the entrance to the football field, full of energy as ever. Craig grabbed the bag with the thermals and followed them to the entrance. They paid for their tickets and got to their seats, at the top of the bleachers with a nice view of the field. Not the best seats but better than nothing. And his kids could see, that was the most important thing.

It wasn’t long before the announcer started introducing the teams playing and crowd roared as the home team ran out on the field, jumping around and thumping their chests together. They all jumped to their feet and cheered for the Maple Bay Narwhals. 

“You good, bro? I know how you feel about whales,” Craig teased.

“Ha ha,” Andrew replied. “I know the mascot isn’t an actual narwhal, though why on earth any whale would need a horn is beyond me. They’re bad enough as it is!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you, bro,” Craig said and wrapped his arms around him from behind.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!” his girls protested. “We’re at a game, no kissy faces!”

Craig turned to his daughters and stuck out his tongue. “He’s my boyfriend and I’ll make all the kissy faces I want! And you two are just going to have to get used to it cause he’s not going anywhere!”

Andrew cleared his throat. “Actually he—I need to go to the bathroom…”

“He’s going to the bathroom,” Craig amended. “And when he gets back I’ll make all the kissy faces I want!”

“So romantic,” Andrew said. “But really, I gotta go.”

 

The home team was doing really well, which was a bit surprising considering that the team was okay, most of the time. They tended to lose more games than they won. Maybe the school had a new coach or something because they were having a really good season. When halftime was called and the marching band took the field, the sun was beginning to set and the score was 27 to 7. Andrew decided to take advantage of the timing and announced it was time for a bathroom break. 

Craig occupied himself by playing with River and her capybara. She was smiling and giggling as she reached for the stuffed rodent. Craig was actually impressed that she hadn’t cried for the most part. It was more like she was hungry or wanted Arnold than being disturbed by the roar of the crowds or the announcer’s booming voice resounding through the stadium. _I bet I’m gonna have another little athlete on my hands one of these days,_ he thought to himself.

Andrew and the girls returned with hot dogs and fries. Craig frowned at the junk food, but was powerless before the charm of Andrew’s kiss against his cheek.

“Relax, dude. It’s a football game,” he said. “Let them live a little.”

“Do you know what’s in those things?” Craig said. “Nothing good.”

“Exactly, which is why I feel completely fine eating them,” Andrew replied, grinning around a mouthful of hotdog like a barbarian. “Because I don’t know what’s in them.” He held up another hotdog. “Want one?”

Craig was about to protest, when his traitorous stomach growled. _I knew I should have eaten a salad before we left,_ he thought. He accepted the hotdog.

“I’m not going to enjoy this, bro,” he declared. 

“Mm-hmm,” Andrew replied triumphantly. “You still take yours with mustard, relish, and onions, right?”

Craig opened the wrapper. Sure enough, a hotdog just like he used to eat them. “You’re evil,” he said, taking a bite. _This is delicious,_ he thought bitterly.

“Yeah,” he said with a grin. “You still love me, though.”

Craig swallowed. _God I’ve missed this._ “The jury’s still out.”

“Aah! I’m hurt,” Andrew cried. “Wounded by your cruel, heartless words.”

Craig leaned in and whispered into his ear, “I’ll make it up to you later.”

His bro shivered and picked up the blanket around them and tugged a little to wrap himself in it some more. “I’m evil?” he asked quietly. “You should give lessons. You’re going to hell.”

“I’ll go anywhere,” Craig whispered, his mouth still hovering near his boyfriend’s ear. “as long as you’re there with me.”

Andrew turned to face his naughty bro. “You know,” he said kissing him. “they say hell is lovely this time of year.”

A tiny voice broke through their reverie. “Do you two ever stop?” while another simultaneously cried, “Yuck!”

Craig turned to his girls, smirking. “That depends. Will you two ever stop being embarrassed by it?”

They shook their heads, disgust displayed boldly on their faces.

“Then no, we won’t.” and to demonstrate his point he turned to kiss Andrew again.

“Thank the Lord,” Andrew said reverently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my lovely beta, wonker8. 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for more geek related nonsense. https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	11. You're Such a Tease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls get invited to Damien's house for an evening of classic goth stories. Craig and Andrew decide to stay in. Andrew decides he wants to get back at his bro for teasing him at the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is nsfw and my first attempt at smut. If you don't like it, don't read it. It also hasn't been betaed, so I'm actually a bit nervous posting this. So constructive criticism/tips/kudos/positive feedback is appreciated.
> 
> Find me as always on tumblr for more geek related nonsense. https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/
> 
> There's also a new Chapter 6 for anyone looking for an update from the past few days. I'll be updating every Friday from here on out, both this one and my other one, Here We Go Again.

It was a little bit past 6 by the time they got home. The Maple Bay Narwhals had won the game 34 to 13, a stellar victory by their standards. Craig, of course, spent the entire game either cheering enthusiastically for the Narwhals or teasing his bro. Partly because Andrew was easily flustered and totally cute when he was. Partly because it was his new favorite way of embarrassing his daughters. Upon arrival, they found a letter from Damien inviting the girls over for an evening of Frankenstein and tea. _Bless this man,_ Craig thought. _He must be psychic or something._

Whether he was psychic or not, the girls were happy to continue hearing about Frankenstein and had not yet reached the age when tea parties were considered lame. River, on the other hand, seemed pretty wiped out, so they just put her in her crib with her capybara.

As soon as Craig was back from taking the girls over, Andrew slammed him against the door and kissed him fiercely.

“You.” Kiss. “Fucking.” Andrew bit his bottom lip. “Tease.” 

Craig smirked into the kiss and raised one hand to his lover’s hair and pulled gently, exposing his neck. He leaned down, “Tell me you didn’t love every minute of it,” he said as he left a trail of kisses down his neck. “Tell me the shivers weren’t from sheer delight at the thought of us together,” he whispered as he began to suck on the delicate skin. Andrew whined and clutched Craig’s head, encouraging him to do so. “Tell me it didn’t make your blood burn with lust, and I’ll never do it again.” A few seconds later he left his neck. It would bruise later.

Andrew gasped for breath as he took Craig’s face in his hands and kissed him again. “I wouldn’t mind you doing it again,” he breathed. “But maybe next time, ask first.”

Craig kissed him back, this time gently, sweetly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll ask next time.”

“Don’t apologize,” Andrew hissed, “just finish what you fucking started, bro!”

Craig reached down and cupped his lover’s erection and rubbed it gently. Andrew moaned into his mouth. “With pleasure.” Then he picked up Andrew bridal style and carried him up to their bedroom and set him down on the bed. He laid down over him and reached a hand up his shirt to caress his chest, eliciting a moan when he grazed a sensitive nipple. “What do you want me to do?” he whispered.

Andrew was already taking Craig’s shirt off. When the offending article was removed, he said, “I want to suck your cock,” he said. “I want you to fuck me into the mattress.”

Craig groaned. His bro said the most beautiful things, sometimes. “You know what we should do?” he asked, as he started to unbuckle his belt.

“What?” Andrew asked impatiently.

Craig grinned at him and kicked his jeans to the floor. “We should suck each other’s dicks, bro.” He moved to take Andrew’s pants off.

Andrew groaned as Craig removed his pants. “Hell yes, bro.”

Craig grinned and flipped his body around so that they were both facing each other’s erections. He began to mouth Andrew’s clothed cock, a spot of precum already apparent on his boxers. He listened to the sweet music of Andrew’s moans and grumblings about teasing, a symphony of arousal and desperation all for his ears alone. He felt Andrew’s lips return the favor as he removed the last of his clothing. He felt Andrew’s hot breath on his balls and he moaned as his lover took one of them into his mouth and sucked on it gently.

 _Enough stalling,_ he thought and pulled Andrew’s boxers down, revealing his cock. He licked it from root to stem and felt Andrew’s moan. _Fuck,_ he thought, _why didn’t we think of this sooner?_

Andrew popped off his ball and took the tip of his cock in his mouth. Craig moaned licking Andrew’s shaft, as Andrew lazily licked the tip of Craig’s cock. Craig lost all coherent thought after that. He took Andrew into his mouth and began sucking on his dick in earnest, taking half of his length into his mouth. He was still getting used to sucking Andrew’s dick, but he assured him that not only was taking the whole thing not necessary, but difficult to do. Naturally Craig took that as a challenge. 

He bobbed up and down on Andrew’s and moaned as he felt his lover’s hot mouth go down on his own. Andrew gripped his ass and took him deeper into his mouth. Craig felt the tip of his cock hit the back of his lover’s throat and moaned around his cock. Then, knowing where this would eventually end up, he lifted one of his bro’s legs and draped his shoulder and reached around and began to tease his opening. He took his mouth off his cock, since they hadn’t yet mastered the art of telepathy.

“Bro,” he said huskily, “can you toss me the lube?”

Andrew groaned and stopped sucking long enough to reach over to the nightstand and toss the bottle to Craig. As his lover settled back into position, Craig flipped the cap open and applied a generous amount of lube to his first three fingers. He slowly inserted his first finger, immediately going for the prostate. He felt Andrew’s breathing hitch just before he moaned loudly around his cock. Craig returned his mouth to his lover’s unattended dick and sucked on it while he slowly fucked him with his finger. It was a little difficult to coordinate, but Craig was determined to succeed. After he felt Andrew was ready he slowly inserted the second finger and heard his bro breathe deeply as he adjusted.

Craig stopped sucking for a minute. “You good bro?” he asked, looking down at his lover. Andrew had his eyes closed and practically worshipping his cock.

Andrew opened his eyes and slid his mouth off long enough to say, “Hell yeah, don’t you dare stop, bro.”

Craig began to stretch his boyfriend as he teased his prostate and sucked his dick. Eventually he added a third finger and felt Andrew’s balls tense as he was about to cum. His breathing hitched and Craig began sucking faster and pumped his fingers faster. 

Andrew popped off Craig’s dick. “Craig, bro, I’m—ahh—going to cum…”

Craig just hummed around his lover’s dick and kept sucking, listening again to the music of Andrew’s whines and moans. Craig felt his dick pulse, heard his bro moan out his name, tasted the salty, bitter seed on his tongue as his lover came in his mouth. He got up and twisted around so he was facing Andrew and set his legs around his waist. He picked up the lube and squeezed some out on his hand then spread it over his aching cock. _God, not sure how long I’m gonna last._ His bro looked thoroughly flushed and flustered. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, bending down to kiss him lightly before he straightened and lined his cock up to his hole and pushed in slowly. His bro was so tight, he doubted he’d ever get tired of this feeling. But better than his ass, better than the sex, was how beautiful his lover was when he arched his back off the mattress in pleasure and ecstasy through the family.

Inch by inch, he entered his tight heat, until he was seated fully inside him. Andrew gripped the headboard and met Craig’s eyes, his own dark with lust and arousal. He was hard again and Craig wrapped his hand around his lover’s member and jerked him off lazily while he waited for his signal that he was okay to move.

A moment later Andrew nodded and Craig thrust into him, slowly, lazily. He bent down and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend as they made love. 

“God, Craig,” Andrew breathed. “You feel so good.”

“It’s all for you, bro,” Craig whispered into his ear. “Always for you.”

Andrew answered by kissing him deeply, invitingly as he reached down to caress his ass. “You’re so amazing, bro. I love you so much.” Andrew wrapped his arms around his back, scratching his back gently but not enough to pierce his skin.

Craig hissed and began to thrust faster. He reached down between them to stroke his boyfriend’s dick. “I love you, too,” he whispered against Andrew’s ear. He reached down and let his hands roam over his body, his chest, his stomach, his long, sexy legs. He grabbed his thighs and kept thrusting into his ass. Andrew wrapped his arms around Craig’s shoulders, chorusing “don’t stop” and “keep going.”

Craig sped up as he felt himself getting close. He wrapped one of his hands around Andrew’s cock again and began jerking him off. “You close?” he asked.

“Yeah,” his lover gasped. “You?”

“Yeah,” Craig hissed. “Where do you want it?”

“Don’t care, anywhere, bro,” he said.

“Bro,” he said. His thrusts became erratic, he leaned down and placed an open mouthed kiss against Andrew’s lips. They breathed in each other’s breath, moaning and sweating. Craig pressed their foreheads together as he came deep into his boyfriend’s ass. He was spent. Hot and sweaty and sticky. But he kept jerking his bro until Andrew spilled his seed into his hand with a shout.

Craig collapsed next to his bro gasping for breath, thankful that his workout regimen helped keep his endurance up. He looked over at the clock. 8:13 pm. They’d need to pick up the girls soon. Andrew would probably appreciate not having to get up for the rest of the night, much less having to limp over to their neighbor’s house to get them.

He rolled over and kissed his lover on the cheek. “I’m gonna shower before I get the girls,” he said. “Go ahead and rest.”

Andrew hummed and turned his head to kiss him lightly. “I love you,” he said.

Craig rubbed their noses together. “I love you, too.”

 _Life is good,_ he thought.


	12. Adoption Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family goes off to volunteer at the animal shelter, as per usual, but it's been a month since Craig's deal with the twins and they remember.

About a month after they started volunteering at the animal shelter, Craig was impressed with his daughters’ persistence. They didn’t, as he half expected, pet and hold the dogs while he and his bro ended up having to clean out kennels and feeding them and such. They really jumped in and kept it up. They might have shied away from helping clean out the cages at first, but they did it. Admittedly they were a bit more enthusiastic about learning how to groom the dogs, especially the Burnese Mountain dog puppies, which had proven difficult to find homes for since they were already a bit smaller than a Labrador and they were still growing rapidly. For people who lived in a city, big dogs were sometimes difficult to place.

They weren’t subtle, but that was probably good, since they seemed to have their hearts set on one (or both, God forbid). The puppies were usually the first ones to get a walk, the first ones to have their kennels cleaned, the first ones to be fed, the first ones to be groomed, and the ones who received the most cuddles when they were done. He was really hoping that they didn’t get it into their heads that they had to have both because they brothers. One puppy would be enough work, especially if they got as big as he looked up. They’d be huge! Nothing in the house would be safe from their reach!

But if it made his girls/bro happy… he could find a way to live with it. And know him, he’d probably end up loving the dog. He just hoped that the dog wouldn’t want to sleep with him and his bro. As much as he liked dogs, he liked sleeping with his bro more.

As his family piled into the car for their weekly volunteering, he silently hoped that the girls would forget that this was technically the one month mark that he had mentioned when they first started volunteering at the shelter. Craig definitely hadn’t forgotten until his bro mentioned it last night as they were about to fall asleep. That would be silly.

“So dad,” Briar said. _Oh no,_ he thought. 

“Yes, Briar?”

“Can we get Fergus or Carl when we’re done volunteering today?”

“One of the puppies is named Carl?” he asked. “Did you know about this, bro?”

Andrew clearly didn’t. “How long has his name been Carl?”

Hazel looked between them. “It’s literally been on their cage this whole time. Fergus and Carl,” she said slowly.

Craig laughed. “Brooo I think we’re getting old,” he said.

“We’re not old,” Andrew protested. “We’re fashionably uncool!”

“There’s a difference?” Briar asked.

“Ouch, kid,” Craig said. “That really hurts. We’re only 39!”

“Papa, were there dinosaurs around when you were a kid?”

Andrew gave the girls a side-eye but didn’t answer.

“Bro, was Amanda like this when she was their age?” Craig asked.

“Dude, Amanda’s still like this and she’s twice their age!”

“Hey, if they turn out half as well as Amanda, I’ll be happy.”

“Brooo,” Andrew said, smiling. “That means a lot, coming from you.” 

Hazel and Briar covered each other’s eyes as Craig leaned in to kiss his bro at a traffic light.

 

They arrived at the shelter and walked through the doors to find none other than Damien Bloodmarch, in suspiciously normal clothing. “Craig, Andrew! Good morning,” he greeted them warmly. “I didn’t expect to see you two here.”

“We’ve been volunteering here for about a month,” Andrew said. “The girls wanted one of the Burnese Mountain dog puppies.”

“Oh them, how delightful,” Damien said. “I should mention that if you’re first time dog owners, I do offer adoption counseling for anyone looking to adopt.”

Craig rubbed his neck. “Well… we’re technically not first time dog owners,” he admitted. “We had a small dog in our dorm room in college.”

Damien laughed at that. “Well I know you lead active lives, so I know that I won’t have to worry. However,” he said pushing his glasses up on his nose, a malicious gleam in his eyes, “if you don’t take care of your dog, I am duty bound to… hound you.”

Briar and Hazel groaned.

“How dare you dad joke us,” Andrew said. “That should be illegal!”

“Come now, dear friend,” Damien replied. “You of all people should know the value of a pun.”

“Anyway,” Craig said. “Whether we adopt a dog today or not, we’re here to volunteer. What do you all need done today, dude?”

Damien picked up a clipboard and flipped through the various sheets for a moment. “We need someone to walk dogs and we need someone to help clean out cages.”

Craig and Andrew ended up walking dogs for the next couple hours while the twins helped Damien clean the cages. Wrangling dogs was always a difficult task. Some dogs didn’t like each other, some of them couldn’t be trusted around other dogs, some of them couldn’t be trusted around strangers. They barked and pulled, some chewed on their leashes, some tried to hump each other, some pooped on the side walk and they had to clean it up while trying to keep whatever other dogs they had on hand under control.

At the end of their volunteering time, the twins dropped the question again. “Can we get one of the Burnese Mountain dog puppies? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssseeee???????????”

“Hmmm… I don’t know,” Craig said. “What do you think, bro? Can they have a puppy?”

“Well, they did go through the month and they did help take care of the dogs here,” Andrew said. “What do you think, Damien? Can they handle a dog?”

Damien chuckled. “To the extent that any kids can handle a dog, I’d say that these two are better at it than most.”

Craig finally gave in. “Yeah, okay a deal’s a deal,” he admitted. “We can get _either_ Fergus or Carl.”

The twins cheered, jumping up and down excitedly. When they finally settled down, they said that they wanted Carl because he was more playful and friendly. They bought several collars of varying sizes at the local pet supply store, puppy food, a big dog bed, a leash, an instruction manual on how to train a puppy to go outside, and a few toys.

“Well bro,” Andrew said as they were checking out at the counter to distract his bro from the climbing numbers, “we have a puppy. Just like old times, right?”

Craig grinned. “Yeah, bro. I was a bit nervous about getting another dog, but this is gonna be really good, especially for the girls!”

“You’re not worried about our upholstery or the state of our floors?” he asked.

“Come on, bro,” Craig grinned. “We’ve taken care of a dog before, and that was a in a dorm room. We have a house, now, and the girls will learn a lot from taking care of him. How bad could it be?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, wonker8. 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for various geek related nonsense. :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	13. "How Bad Could It Be?" Shut up, Craig.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig's foot in mouth comes back to bite him.

It was bad. It was very bad. Keeping up with the puppy was a constant challenge. In the span of a week, he had destroyed toys, chewed up the couch, barked at every noise outside the house, and pooped or peed in every corner of the house imaginable (even though they were letting him out every couple hours when they were home and went for walks twice a day). Damien assured them that, as a puppy, he was more prone to chewing things and leaving a mess on the floor. He recommended installing a dog door that would be large enough to accommodate him once he grew to his adult size. In a few months.

That being said, Carl Jr proved to be a constant companion for the girls. They were teaching him how to play soccer, which mostly involved catching the ball with his feet and then head-butting it back to them. Craig would get home, get out of his business attire, and kick the ball around with his girls and the dog. He was affectionate and even though he ruined one of the couches, he was a giant cuddle monster. He was the definition of a giant dog who thought that he could sit in someone’s lap like one of those expensive dogs rich people carried around in their purses. 

Craig and Andrew took him on their runs in the morning after the kids got on the bus. It was a bit awkward, honestly, since he stopped every so often to mark his territory, and they quickly realized that it was a good thing that they had volunteered at the shelter and thought to bring plastic bags to collect his… droppings. The only tricky part was what to do when no one was home. They couldn’t very well leave him in a cage all day, but it was also trying to walk all through the house to check and see where Carl Jr had left a mess. The sooner Craig or Andrew could install that dog door, the better.

Alas, it wasn’t until the following weekend that they were able to get around to that task and it proved to be more work than they anticipated. Fortunately, the door they bought came with instructions and if dads could do anything, it was build something with instructions when they had no idea what the fuck they were doing and completely deny that they had no idea what the fuck they were doing. When they finally managed to finish installing the door, they high-fived and shouted, “Bro power!” The twins groaned from the living room, where they were strategically occupying Carl Jr from eating the couch.

One evening after a long, cold day at the park, they returned home and shucked their coats. The twins and Carl Jr ran to the living room and started playing tug-of-war with a rope toy.

“Where do you think they get all that energy?” Andrew asked, watching the girls and the puppy run down the hall.

“Hey, you exercise often enough and you have energy to spare, bro,” Craig answered. “Speaking of which, I’m going downstairs to do some strength training. You wanna join me?”

“Mmm… the chance to see you sweating, straining, and flexing?” Andrew asked. “Count me in.”

Craig’s eyes darkened. “Focus, bro,” he murmured. “It’s a workout session, not a make out session.”

“Pity,” Andrew said, sidling up to him. “Do I get a reward if it goes well?”

Craig closed his eyes and kissed his bro. “A reward?” he whispered. “I think I can think of something.”

Eventually they actually got around to changing into some workout clothes and made their way down to the basement. After an hour of Craig pumping iron and Andrew doing some more basic strength training, they were sweaty, pumped, pheromones pumping through their bodies, Craig suggested that they make their way to the master bathroom to clean up and “save water.”  
***************************************************************************************************************

Later they made their way downstairs, the twins sat in front of the T.V. watching Phineas and Ferb with Carl Jr on the couch between them, oddly calm for once and River napping in her play pen. As soon as they went into the room Andrew asked, “Whatcha doin’?”

Hazel groaned. Briar rolled her eyes. “Just watching Phineas and Ferb. And just because you got the guy doesn’t mean you’re Isabella, Papa.”

“Aah!” Andrew gasped. “That hurts! I could be a beautiful girl, don’t you think, bro?”

“You’re already pretty, bro,” Craig replied rubbing Carl Jr’s belly. “You’d make a beautiful woman.”

“Aww you’re sweet, bro,” he said.

Hazel made a disgusted noise. “Oh my God, you two are dating why are calling each other ‘bro’?”

“I’ve told you,” Craig said with mock severity. “Because he’s my bro.”

“But you kiss him!”

“Yeah, cause he’s also my boyfriend.”

“He can’t be both,” Briar cried. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Who says? It makes perfect sense to me.”

“But—you—I—but… ohhh,” they groaned.

“I give up,” Briar said. “They’re just weird.”

“I’m never dating anyone,” Hazel declared. She turned to glare at them. “Where have you two been, anyway? What’s for dinner?”

Craig looked at the clock. 6:19. “Huh. I guess we better get started on that, huh tiny bros?”

It was a bit late for anything fancy, so Craig just boiled up some pasta and some sauce and heated up a bunch of meatballs and threw it all together. It was a perfectly healthy dinner. Until Andrew asked the girls if they wanted some apple cider (alcoholic for the adults and regular for the kids) and ice cream. Despite his protests that EVEN THOUGH it was a cold autumn evening absolutely perfect for hot apple cider and vanilla ice cream drizzled in caramel sauce and crushed peanuts, it was really unhealthy, Andrew and the girls outvoted him. Even River turned against him and laughed along with the rest of his family.

“Come on, Craig, it’s apple cider,” Andrew coaxed. “Apples are a fruit. That’s healthy. Ice cream is a dairy. And peanuts are a protein. It’s healthy.”

“Bro, just because they’re made of healthy stuff doesn’t make them good for you,” he retorted.

“Suit yourself,” Andrew said, getting some whipped cream out of the fridge and spraying some on his ice cream. Some got on his finger and he raised it to his mouth, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he lingered there. “Tasty.”

_Damn this man,_ he thought. “Fine,” he said grabbing the bowl. “Have it your way.” He ate a spoonful of ice cream. _Oh God. Oh. God. That’s so good._ He closed his eyes. “You’re a bad person, bro.”

“I’m bad?” Andrew teased. “You just stole my ice cream. That’s pure evil! I have to make myself another bowl.”

Craig grabbed his alcoholic cider and went out to the living room. “Hurry up,” he shouted over his shoulder. “We’re starting Shrek whether you’re there or not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense. :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	14. Queen's Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig tries something new, much to Andrew's pleasant surprise. Then there's a sing-off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Annony  
> requested, I have written  
> steamy shower sex.  
> (NSFW at the beginning.)
> 
> This may shock some of you, but this is only my second fanfiction I've ever written! It's really incredible the reaction to this story, thank you all so much!
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/

Andrew and Craig were making out as they stripped out of their sweaty workout clothes. Andrew felt Craig running his hands over his chest and his back, which was starting to become stronger and more defined. He would probably never be as chiseled and toned as Craig, but it still felt good, especially when they were like this. He felt Craig moan into the kiss when he dropped his hands to squeeze his butt before removing his lover’s shorts. Then he felt something unexpected happen. Craig tensed.

Andrew broke contact with him. “What’s wrong, bro?”

Craig blushed and looked away. “It’s nothing, bro. It’s stupid.”

Andrew wrapped his arms around his neck. “Come on, you can tell me,” he said. “I promise I won’t laugh. Hell, you asked if you could watch me fuck myself on a dildo once and that was hot as hell. It can’t be that much different.”

Craig looked down into his eyes. “Okay. Um…,” he said. He must really be nervous, he thought. “I want to bottom.”

Oh. “Really?” he asked. “What brought this on?”

“Well…,” he said sheepishly, his face blushing red as a tomato now. “I’ve been curious about it for a while now, but I was too afraid to ask.”

“Why?”

“I thought that you wouldn’t want to, since you seem to enjoy being a bottom so much,” he said. “But it makes me curious so if you don’t want to you can teach me how to use one of the toys and that would be fine—”

“You think because I like to bottom that I wouldn’t enjoy switching it up every now and then?” Andrew interrupted. He reached down and rested his hands on the curve of Craig’s ass, squeezing gently. He leaned up. “I’d love to be inside you,” he whispered into his ear. 

Craig shivered and Andrew felt his cock twitch. Andrew spent the next while teaching him how to prep himself. It was a lot more of an involved process than Craig had thought. Other stuff, like the right diet was already part of Craig’s lifestyle, so they could talk about that later. 

When all that was done and Andrew was satisfied that Craig was clean, they got into the shower to clean off. Craig was still kind of nervous, so Andrew trailed his chest with kisses, working his way down between his abs to his lover’s cock. He stroked him gently back to hardness and took him into his mouth. Craig leaned back against the wall of the shower and moaned, making Andrew grin around his bro’s cock in satisfaction. He took him deeper into his mouth and moaned as the head of Craig’s cock reached the back of his throat. He looked up at his bro as he bobbed his head on his cock. The water from the shower head fell on his chest and flowed down his muscled body as his eyes were closed in bliss. 

He took him down to the root and swallowed his cock. Craig put his hands on his head and held him there, choking him on his cock, until he came off and breathed, grinning up at his bro.

“Feeling better?” he asked. 

Craig grinned down at him breathing hard. “Loads better, bro.”

“Good,” he replied. “Turn around, bro.” Craig complied and braced himself on the tiled wall of the shower. Andrew took his ass in his hands and squeezed playfully before he spread his cheeks revealing Craig's clean virgin hole. He took a long swipe with his tongue, exactly the way he had felt Craig do to him so many times and drove him up the wall (or bed, usually).

“Christ!” he moaned. “Shit that feels good.”

Andrew smirked and began to eat his bro’s hole out, licking and nipping his ass and listening to Craig moan under his ministrations. It was intoxicating, honestly. In another life he might have been a top, but he enjoyed getting fucked too much for that to be the case now. He came off and lubed his fingers.

“You ready, bro?” he asked. He saw Craig nod. “Good, now relax,” he said as he inserted the first finger. Craig hissed at the intrusion, but he managed to resist the urge to tighten up. Andrew took his time, teasing his hole, while he searched for Craig prostate. Suddenly Craig moaned loudly.

“Found it,” Andrew declared smugly. He teased it gently, eliciting another moan from his lover. “Ready for another one?”

Again Craig didn’t say anything, but he nodded. Andrew inserted another finger inside him and began to stretch him. Craig hissed. “You good, bro?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Just feels weird.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll get better,” he promised. He took his time stretching him, teasing his prostate and wrapping his other hand around to stroke Craig’s member, which he was pleased to find was still hard. Craig moaned and Andrew inserted a third finger. Craig hissed again. 

“Bro, you’re not _that big,_ I think I’ll be fine,” Craig said.

“Better safe than sorry, bro,” he replied, continuing to stretch and fuck Craig with his fingers. “Especially the first time.” When he was done, he pulled them out and lined his cock up to Craig’s hole and slowly pushed in. Craig hissed again and gasped. He trembled and Andrew wrapped one arm around him.

“You good, bro?” he asked when he was fully inside him. It took him a bit of effort to concentrate. Craig was _tight._ It felt amazing.

“I’m fine,” he ground out. “Is it like this all the time?”

“For the first few times, yeah,” Andrew confirmed. He kissed Craig’s back. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

A minute later, Craig gave him the all clear and Andrew began to fuck him with gentle, shallow thrusts. Craig moaned and he reached down to stroke his dick again as he made love to his bro. Eventually Craig said that he could go faster if he wanted and he increased his pace, hitting his prostate with every thrust. Craig arched his back as he leaned against the wall, giving him a better angle.

“Shit bro, you feel amazing,” Andrew hissed. “You’re so damn tight! So hot!” He increased his pace a little more, reveling in the feeling of being inside him, being the one he trusted enough to be his first. Craig just threw his head back and moaned. He took one of his hands and grabbed Andrew’s ass, trying to get him to go deeper. Andrew obliged and he caught a glimpse of Craig’s face. The hot water and the hot sex made his face beautifully flushed and his amber eyes were almost completely black with arousal. 

Craig’s breathing hitched and he started jerking his cock faster. He came with a cry, that might have been worryingly loud, if it weren’t for the bit of soundproofing in the master suite. Andrew pumped him through his orgasm and he felt Craig’s already tight hole tighten even more around him. He fucked him faster as he felt his own orgasm building, biting Craig’s shoulder as he came inside him, pumping his cock in his ass through his release. They stood there beneath the shower’s steady, hot stream gasping for breath, trembling as they struggled to stay upright. Slowly, Andrew withdrew his cock from inside Craig and he took some measure of satisfaction at the whine that escaped his bro. He reached over and grabbed the body wash and the shampoo, remembering that there was a purpose to showers other than sexy fun times.

Thankfully, there were stools built into the shower walls. Craig winced as he sat down and began to wash himself, his legs trembling.

“That was… damn,” he said between breaths.

Andrew smiled and sat down on the other stool across from him. “I take it you enjoyed it?” he asked, shampooing his hair.

“I had no idea it felt like that,” he said, nodding. “Any of it. I think I prefer topping, though. Sorry, bro.”

“Don’t apologize, bro,” Andrew said. “I prefer bottoming. It’s fun to switch it up sometimes, but I wouldn’t enjoy sex as much if I were expected to be the top all the time.”

“Oh good, I was worried there for a minute,” Craig said grinning. The grin turned into a wince though as he shifted. “Seriously, is it always like this?”

Andrew laughed. “You get used to it, eventually.”  
********************************************************************************************

A few days later was the Friday before Thanksgiving, Craig arrived home late with his arms full of Thanksgiving groceries. He wasn’t limping as much anymore, and there had been a few sly looks and sniggers when he walked into the office after that first time, especially after he told them he “tripped.” He had been tempted to fire someone the first day. Thankfully the twins had believed him and not asked any clarifying questions. He wasn’t at all ready to give them “the talk” or struggle to come up with some believable explanation for them. 

As soon as he was in the house he found something he had never encountered before. Well, not since the days before his girls were born. Loud music. He walked through the hallway to the dining room to see Amanda, Hazel, and Briar standing on top of the table singing loudly into some kitchen utensils. He stared for a minute, trying to understand what was going on. It seemed to be the beginning of the song, from what he could tell.

_Just a small town girl_  
_Livin' in a lonely world_  
_She took the midnight train goin' anywhere_

Craig stared for a little while longer and went into the kitchen to put the turkey away. He saw Andrew preparing Amanda’s favorite meal (Craig disagreed that it counted as a meal, but that was neither here nor there): mac and cheese. With bacon. He was wearing earplugs, seemingly blissfully unaware of the loud singing in the next room. Craig tapped his shoulder and Andrew turned with a long suffering look that Craig knew was completely fake. His bro was ecstatic to have his daughter home again.

“WHAT’S GOING ON?” he shouted over the music.

“WHAT?”

“WHAT’S. GOING. ON?” he repeated.

He moved the bacon off the heat and gestured towards the study, which was a little better sound proofed than most rooms in the house. Once they were inside, Andrew took out his earplugs. “That’s better,” he sighed. “I think our girls have joined a cult. They’ve been playing that song on repeat ever since Amanda got home.”

“Well at least they have good taste,” Craig said. “A cult?”

“That’s what I told Amanda,’” he replied. “She was actually surprised that I knew Journey. And it’s not exactly a cult… how did Amanda put it? A… fandom?”

“What’s a fandom?”

“I think it’s one of those things that makes sense to the youths of today,” he shrugged. “We might be too old to understand.”

“It’s Journey! These guys have been around forever,” Craig said. “Well, they’re not the only generation that grew up with good music that everyone loves. I’ve got an idea.”  
********************************************************************************************

Amanda and the twins finished their many-teenth rendition of Don’t Stop Believin’. Her voice was starting to feel sore. But being the rebellious spirit she was, she was fully prepared to go as long as Hazel and Briar wanted to belt out the lyrics of their new favorite song by their new favorite band. I’m so proud, she thought.

Just then, the song stopped and was replaced by a slower 80s rock song. The three girls turned to see their dads also singing into kitchen utensils.

_Is this the real life?_  
_Is this just fantasy?_  
_Caught in a landslide,_  
_No escape from reality._

“What are they doing?” Briar whispered. 

“I think they’re trying to compete with us,” she answered. The beginning of the song was a bit slow and dirge-y. It was actually a bit of a downer after their song, about some guy who was dying or something.

All of a sudden it picked up with the most bizarre lyrics blasting out of the radio. Her dad and Craig imitated every single voice really badly. And it was amazing, though as a daughter duty-bound to believe her dad was painfully uncool, she would never admit. Then, one of the most amazing guitar riffs started playing and she had to sit down and just appreciate it, while trying to ignore her dad passionately playing the air guitar.

When the song slowed down to its conclusion, Amanda just sat in amazement. “Whoa, pops that song just blew my mind. What is that?”

Andrew straightened and said, “Amanda, my child, I have failed you as a parent if you didn’t know what the Bohemian Rhapsody was until now, or if you thought that you could play 80s music in this house and the old guys you constantly rip on wouldn’t recognize it.”

“Journey is an 80s band?” Hazel asked, eyes wide with shock.

“Tiny bro, Journey has been around since the 70s,” Craig said.

Thus began an evening of unhealthy eating habits, 80s music, teaching the kids how to properly air guitar with feeling, and telling Amanda how and when they got a dog and why she didn’t know until she walked through the door (she teased them relentlessly for naming him Carl Jr). 

“I get that you guys were roommates in college,” she said, “but why would you name this majestic beast Carl Jr?”

“Carl was a great and noble roommate,” Andrew said, “Carl Jr should be honored to be named after him.”

“Whatever dad, I’m naming the next dog we get,” she declared. 

“‘Next dog’?” Craig asked. He gestured to the ruined couch that had been dubbed Carl’s couch. “One dog was hard enough to keep track of. Do you know how long it took to train him to use the doggy door?”

“Ummm no?” Amanda asked. “Kinda glad I missed out on that. And I said dog, not puppy.”

“Oh well, that’s fine then,” he replied.

“Does that mean—” Briar asked.

“No, we’re not getting another dog in the foreseeable future,” Andrew said.

“Pops, come on,” Amanda said. “How far is the foreseeable future anyway?”

“Ask Damien, he’s the one with the crystal ball,” he replied. “And I’m sure he would be happy to add you to the schedule to volunteer at the shelter whenever you’re in town.”

“Or you could come with us to volunteer tomorrow,” Craig said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

“Okay, but just so you know, I’m probably just going to play with the dogs,” she insisted, shoving more mac and cheese in her mouth.


	15. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family is getting ready for Thanksgiving. Amanda says there's a shocking amount of food and Craig hears about a part of their life that surprises him.

“Why do we need so much turkey?” Amanda asked, inspecting the fridge to find not one, but two turkeys. “How many people do you expect to show up?”

Craig looked down in surprise. “Well, there’s you and Andrew, my kids and I, Smashley my ex-wife, my brother and his wife and 2 kids, my sister and her husband and 3 kids, and my mother. So there will be 17 of us and we all eat a lot of food on Thanksgiving.”

Amanda sat down on a stool at the island. “So why are you thawing them so early?”

Craig looked at her quizzically. “Because turkeys take a long time to thaw. About 2 days for every 4 pounds.”

“It just seems like so much food,” she said. “Pops and I only ever had a turkey breast.”

Craig’s eyebrows rose so far they almost seemed to climb into his scalp. “Just you and Andrew? What about his family?”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Well, they all live in Florida,” she said. “And we always visited them at Christmas but couldn’t afford to go more than once a year. Sometimes we had dinner with my friend Emma R.’s family, but only if they were in town that year.”

He sat down on the stool across from her. “What about Alex’s family?”

“I’ve never met them and Pop’s never told me where they live,” Amanda said. “I get the feeling they didn’t approve of him.”

Craig frowned in distaste. He hadn’t been as close to Alex as he had with Andrew, but he had always known and accepted that he was gay. It seemed such a simple thing, but then, he wasn’t raised with the same Christian bias against gay people as most people had been back in his day.

“Speaking of which,” Amanda segued, “does your family know about you and dad?”

“Of course,” Craig said. “I wouldn’t invite them if they would shame us. And he knows that they know.”

“Wow, a family get together that doesn’t involve awkward questions about Pop’s dating life,” Amanda said. “This’ll be a first. I have no idea how to do this.”

“Is that what it’s like every Christmas for you two?”

“Sort of,” Amanda said. “They mostly want to know if he’s found a girlfriend.”

“But… he’s gay. Like, happily gay,” Craig said.

“Yeah, I think they sorta know that, but they think he’ll ‘get better’” Amanda explained. “They’ve never once asked about Alex, or mentioned him, or asked if he’s found a boyfriend.”

“And you go there every Christmas? Voluntarily?” Craig asked.

“Yeah, I think because he dislikes being alone, like not around family, on Christmas.”

Craig went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. “I had no idea.”

“It’s not surprising,” Amanda said, grabbing beer of her own. “Pops doesn’t like to talk about it, and most people don’t bring it up.”

Craig reached down and snagged the beer out of her hand. “Guess again, kid.”

“Dude, you got me talkin’ about heavy stuff, gotta get through it somehow.”

Craig opened the fridge and got a bottle of apple juice and set it in front of her. Amanda scowled at him. He smirked back. “You want beer, go ask your dad.”  
*****************************************************************************************

Craig got home from his afternoon run to see his bro’s car in the driveway. _Great he’s home, I gotta talk to him about what Amanda told me._

He walked through the doors and smelled the enticing scent of hot chocolate. _Damn this man, he thought. Be strong, bro, be strong._

He made his way to the kitchen, fully intending to get one of his protein shakes. As soon as he walked in the room, he saw his bro struggling to carry four different mugs of hot chocolate with another one on the counter. He went over and took a couple of the mugs off his hands. “I got you, bro.”

Andrew smiled. “Thanks. The girls insisted on having hot chocolate.”

“You’re cute when you spoil my girls,” Craig said.

“Bro, that’s sweet,” he replied. “This is a lot harder than just taking care of Amanda, I don’t know how you did it on your own.”

“I got a break every other weekend,” he said. “I worried about them, but it was still a break.”

“By the way, is Smashley coming to Thanksgiving?” he asked.

“Yeah, she’s looking forward to it,” Craig said. “Speaking of which, I need to ask you something when we’ve delivered the drinks.”

They got to the living room where Amanda was introducing the twins to Long Haul Ice Road Paranormal Ghost Truckers. The twins stared at the screen enraptured, completely oblivious to their parents delivering the hot chocolate. Amanda sat on the couch with River in her lap and eagerly accepted hers.

Once they had the drinks, Craig and Andrew returned to the kitchen with theirs. Craig took a sip of his, savoring the flavor of unhealthy choices. Maybe he was getting better at the whole relaxation thing. Of course, it was Thanksgiving week. Health kicks took a break around the holidays.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Andrew asked.

“Umm… Amanda told me about your Thanksgivings and how you see your folks every year,” he said.

“Oh.” Andrew took a long, fortifying drink from his mug. “I assume she told you about their efforts to hook me up with happily single moms.”

“She didn’t mention the moms, but yeah,” Craig said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was honestly hoping that it would sort of just go away,” Andrew said sheepishly into his mug.

“But why, bro?” Craig asked a little hurt.

“I don’t want people feeling sorry for me,” he said. “And… honestly it’s just that I don’t like talking about it. I don’t like talking about how my family doesn’t accept me but I still miss them around the holidays or how it was just the two of us at Thanksgiving most years after Alex died.” Tears were streaming down his face now.

Craig put down his mug, reached over and pulled Andrew’s hands off his, and pulled his bro into an embrace, letting the tears stain his shirt. “I’m sorry I brought it up, bro,” he whispered.

Andrew cried softly into the crook of Craig’s neck. “It’s okay. Honestly, I never thought that I would be at a big Thanksgiving dinner when Alex and I started our family.” 

Craig ran his hands over his boyfriend’s back. “I’m here for you bro,” he whispered. “We’re your family, now. And I know that my family will love you and Amanda as much as they love Smashley and my girls.”

“Well, they liked me in college,” he said. “I’d hope nothing had changed.”

“Though the rule is that all adults have to help with dinner,” Craig said. “So you and Amanda have to figure something out. No veggie plates like at that barbeque last summer.”

“I’ll try not to burn anything,” Andrew chuckled. Craig took his face in his hands and kissed his forehead.

“I’m here for you, bro.”

“I know,” he said. “Thank you for reminding me, bro.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week, Thanksgiving! One of my favorite holidays! 
> 
> Find me on tumblr for various geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	16. Family Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Turkey Day (Thanksgiving for anyone reading this who isn't from the US)! Awkward family situations unfold with some fluff sprinkled in along the way. Also, I definitely headcanon that Craig's mom is the grandma who swears like a sailor and teaches all her grand kids the stuff she knows their parents would disapprove of, so if anyone's wondering why both my fics have similar characterizations for Craig's mom, that's why.

Thanksgiving Day was, blessedly, uncomplicated. Beyond the actual cooking itself (Craig handled the turkeys), preparing for the family to arrive was actually quite easy. Andrew made Amanda’s favorite cherry pie without catching fire even once (they were all very impressed). The only tricky thing was what to do with Carl Jr. He was about 9 months old now and big enough to pose a threat to any food left on the counter top. They were trying to train that out of him, but as yet, they had not managed to eradicate the behavior entirely. The simplest solution would be to keep him in the basement and close the doors to the laundry room and the workout room so he couldn’t get into too much trouble.

“I think it’s cruel that Carl Jr. isn’t getting any turkey while the rest of us stuff our faces,” Amanda said after they had closed the door.

“You’re right,” Andrew replied. “It’s not fair. It’s also not fair to leave entire turkeys up where a puppy can get to and choke on a bone.”

“Fair point.” She said. “It’s for your own good, boy.”

“You’re not allowed to go back to college,” he said, hugging her. “I miss having you around too much.”

“Ugh, dad, feelings,” she replied. “As much as I’d love to stay and befriend our first dog, I got pictures to take, things to steal, establishments to break. You know, normal college stuff.”

“That’s my girl,” he said. “Now help me set up the tables.”

Smashley was the first to arrive, naturally. She came through the door with a store bought pumpkin pie, set it on the counter, and was immediately attacked by her twin daughters. Andrew immediately thought that it was going to be awkward seeing her again, especially since he was very seriously dating Craig now, but she just gave him one of her bear hugs that was half hug, half tackle, and half the reason for her unfortunate nickname.

“Andrew! Dude! How ya been, man?” she nearly shouted at him. “You never write, you don’t call, honestly I feel forgotten.”

“Hey Smashley, good to see you again,” he said with a bit of a nervous chuckle. They settled into a bit of a tense catching up session, her talking about her life and what she was up to these days, and him talking about what happened after they all graduated from college. Eventually she looped her arm around his.

“Can I talk to you? Alone?” she asked. Andrew looked at Craig who just smiled and waved them off.

“Sure, I guess,” he said. _Please don’t kill me please don’t kill me please don’t kill me please don’t kill me._

They went outside, which at this point in Maine meant that it was cold as hell. Their breath made puffy clouds and there was a light layer of snow on the ground, good for stomping around in, but not good for making snowmen yet. It was peaceful, serene even. Across the way, Andrew could see Damien’s garden, which was beautiful and vibrant lie barren for the season. Damien had sold dozens of bouquets to the local flower shops before they all ended up dying. It was exactly the sort of relaxing atmosphere for too friends to catch up.

 _Or for a murder to happen,_ he thought to himself.

“Relax, champ, I’m not going to beat you up,” Smashley chided playfully. “I just want to know how it’s going between you two.”

Andrew swallowed, not yet reassured. “Things are great. Couldn’t be happier.”

“Good,” she said. “He certainly seems more relaxed than I’ve seen him in years. Every time he drops the girls off, he seems less like a lost puppy than he used to, though I doubt he’ll ever be okay with being away from them.”

“You should have seen him when he sent them to that sports camp over the summer,” he said. “A full week without them, he was inconsolable the first couple days.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “That sounds exactly like him. But seriously, ever since you two got together, he’s been better. Grounded.” She turned to face him fully, her face very serious. “Thank you.”

Andrew blinked. “For what?”

“For doing what I never could,” she replied. “I was actually afraid that he would run himself into the ground. I don’t know how you did it, but thank you.”

Andrew was honestly touched. He released a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “You’re welcome,” he said. They hugged again, gentler this time, like two friends who had been apart for a long time reuniting.  
***********************************************************************************************************************

Finally everyone had arrived and the meal was ready. Andrew was most worried about his daughter. Amanda had made friends with Craig’s mother, Brooke, who was now teaching her how to play poker over turkey and fixings. A lesson, which Andrew, Craig, his sister, and her husband all got roped into at the table in the living room, angled so that Brooke could simultaneously keep track of the football game. Together the two of them took all comers and soundly thumped them all. Fortunately they only played with poker chips and not actual money, otherwise Andrew would be completely broke. 

“Good thing we aren’t playing strip poker, eh, boy?” Brooke teased. “You’d be buck ass nude and then I couldn’t teach your daughter a damn thing.” 

“Ugh, Gramms!” Amanda protested. “Thanks for that image.”

“Leave him be, mom,” Craig said. “At least we know that he won’t blow our life savings.”

“Mm-hmm,” she replied drinking her beer. “You’re just happy we weren’t playing strip poker cause by now you’d be all hot and bothered.”

Craig’s face turned bright red. “Mooom! I’d at least try to be decent around the family,” he protested.

“Why?” she asked downing what was left of her drink. “I don’t.” As if to emphasize her point, she rose up and slammed her drink down to the table. Her team was losing. “What the fuck was that play? What the fuck were you thinking, you half brained jackasses! I could play better with both hands tied behind my back!”

Andrew leaned over to Craig. “Bro, is your mom always like this at Thanksgiving?”

Craig nodded solemnly. “She thinks that nothing in the English language is off limits as long as it’s said well. Which usually comes out when football’s on.”

“How did I miss this when we were younger?”

“I think we were usually a mile high or drunk or in a food coma or a combination of the three,” he said. “I mean, you practically lived with us for a while, bro. It’s amazing that you didn’t know.”

Since the poker game was interrupted by poor football prospects, Amanda made her way over to their side of the table.

“Yo Pops, my new Grandma is the bomb,” she said. “Can we keep her?”

“I don’t think the freezer downstairs is big enough, Manda Panda” he joked. Craig snorted into his drink.

“Daaaaad, she can just sleep on the couch and we can get a rocking chair so she can sit out on the lawn and yell at rowdy teenagers, it’ll be fun!” she said.

“Much as I would like to keep my mother around as a constant corrupting influence on my young daughters,” Craig said, “I’m the youngest, so I’m the last in line to have to take care of her.”

His sister, Rose, heard that from the other end of the table. “What was that, little brother, I’m first in line?” she asked. “No no, as the most successful of us, you’re the first one up for taking care of her in her old age.”

“Who are you calling old?” their mother demanded.

“You mom, you’re 65,” she said.

“None of you are allowed to call me old ‘til I’m on my deathbed!” she declared. “So you’re all gonna be waiting a long damn time!”

Amanda laughed loudly. “See, we have to keep her!”  
***********************************************************************************************************************

Later that evening, as Craig and Andrew were lying down on their bed, Craig turned to his bro and said, “I love you. Happy Thanksgiving, bro.”

Andrew smiled back. “Happy Thanksgiving, bro. I’m so grateful to be with you.”  
***********************************************************************************************************************

Black Friday was spent, oddly enough, not at the office, as Andrew half expected. Rather, when he awoke in the morning and wandered out into the living room, he found Craig trying to teach River how to walk. He held her arms up gently with her feet set on the floor in front of him. She was making hesitant steps as Craig cheered her on.

“Morning workout seems a bit different this morning,” Andrew quipped. 

“Tiny bro has her regimen, too, dude,” Craig said without looking up.

“Does this mean I get a rest day?” he asked.

“Just for that I’m gonna push you even harder today.” He teased. He let River go to let her stand for a while.

“Nice knowing ya, Popsicle,” Amanda said from the couch.

“Make sure to say something nice at the funeral,” he replied. “Something poetical. Something with imagery.”

“I’ll write a haiku,” Amanda promised.

Just then River fell to the ground and began crying. Craig knelt down and began encouraging her and helping her get back into a standing position. She sniffled, but let him help her go through some clumsy steps. Just then Carl Jr. trotted into the room wagging his tail slightly as he sniffed River. River smiled and let go of Craig’s fingers and reached out and grabbed Carl’s fur, using him to cruise around. Carl didn’t seem to mind and walked around slowly as he supported her tiny body. Amanda took out her phone and began taking a video of the two of them as Andrew and Craig heaped gobs of praise on both the baby and the dog.

The effect was eventually ruined by River falling down on her butt. She started crying in frustration, but Carl Jr lay down behind her and began to lick her face. Her crying stopped and she began giggling. The lesson officially ended as River began playing with Carl’s fur and ears.

“Amanda,” Craig said. “Can you watch them? I’m gonna kill your dad.”

“I’m not even dressed yet!” he protested.

“You have a t-shirt and pajama pants. Just throw some shoes on, what more do you need?”

“Have fun!” she cheered as Craig dragged Andrew down to the basement.  
***********************************************************************************************************************

True to his word, Andrew felt like he was dying. By the time Craig announced he was done, his entire upper body felt like it was about to disintegrate. Craig, on the other hand, looked great, even if he himself had gone as hard as he had pushed his bro. His biceps were pumped, his chest was heaving, and his shirt was so sweaty it clung to his body and Andrew found it difficult to be cross with his bro while he looking so sexy.

Be that as it may, even if Craig were in the mood, he didn’t think he had the energy to have sex with him. He also just wanted to get in a shower and wash himself off.

“Hey bro,” Craig said, bumping his shoulder with his fist. “You did good today, I’m really impressed with how far you’ve come.”

Andrew blushed despite himself. “Thanks, I couldn’t have done it without you,” he replied.

Craig gave that toothy grin. Dammit I’m supposed to be angry and he’s being cute. “Aw bro, you’re gonna make me blush.”

Andrew gave in and grinned. “Much as I enjoy complimenting each other, I’d love to wash off. I feel gross.”

“Wanna save water?” Craig asked.

Andrew grinned and his dick expressed interest. _Maybe I do have a little energy left over after all._  
***********************************************************************************************************************

Amanda was trying really, really hard not to think about how long her dad and Craig had been in the shower and focus on introducing the twins to one of her favorite shows: Warehouse 13. She was, after all, 18 and knew that there was a limited number of things people did in the shower. So far, Briar had declared that Artie was her favorite character and Hazel threw her lot in with Myka. River wasn’t paying much attention, as she had curled up on the floor with Carl Jr and fallen asleep and Carl lay his head protectively in her lap. Amanda had gotten lots of great pictures that she fully intended to frame and put on a wall somewhere in the house.

Just then Andrew and Craig walked out of their room, clean and refreshed. Their eyes took in everything that was happening. The show, the twins captivated by the show and River and Carl sleeping together on the floor.

“Please tell me that you got pictures of that,” Craig stage whispered. “This is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Hell yeah, dude,” Amanda replied in like fashion, holding up her camera. “I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this!”

Craig walked over to her to give her a fist bump, but his plans were ruined. Amanda got up and hugged him. Craig was a bit surprised but returned it gently.

“I love being part of this family,” she said.

Craig smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his bro wipe his eye. “Me too, Amanda. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, find me on Tumblr for various geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	17. A Little Christmas Cheer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig starts some new traditions with his new family.

There was one thing that Craig wanted to do before Amanda went back to college to finish out her semester and since she was obligated to return on Sunday, that meant that they had to do it on Saturday if they wanted to do it as a family. Craig, of course, was talking about getting a Christmas tree. Not that he told Andrew and Amanda. He wanted to surprise them.

“Why are we driving out to the middle of nowhere?” Amanda said. “If we get lost and have no service, I’m not up for doing any of that survivalist stuff in Long Haul Ice Road Paranormal Ghost Truckers.”

“Relax,” Andrew said. “If we have to do any of that stuff, my bro and I can start a fire.”

“Getting lucky one time when you had camping supplies and dry wood doesn’t count, Pops,” she said. “That was spring time. Have you seen the snow on the ground?”

“There’s not that much,” he protested. “And you have so little faith in your father, Amanda.”

Craig turned onto a little road with a sign with a Christmas tree on it. They were getting close. The girls and he had gotten their trees from this farm for years. And this early in the season, they would have the best choices, unless they were all taken in the Black Friday rush. Which was doubtful. As soon as he saw the place he turned and parked in the small parking lot.

“We’re cutting a Christmas tree?” Amanda asked with festive cheer. “Like, an actual Christmas tree, not a fake one?”

“An actual Christmas tree, dude,” he said. “We’ll cut it down and everything. Get a picture, even.”

Andrew took his hand and laced their fingers together. “You’re the best, bro.”

“I just figured you’d like for us all to do this together, bro,” he said, touching their foreheads together. “You deserve it. Both of you.”

“Bro, stop, you’re gonna make me cry and then we’ll just run into something cause I can’t see,” he replied, blushing. Because of the cold. Obviously.

“Don’t worry,” Craig said. “I got you bro.”

The girls were already running through the rows and rows of trees looking for the perfect tree. Amanda found one that was beautiful, but Craig said was too tall for his living room. They found another one that was short enough, but had a huge hole on one side. Hazel found one that was also short enough, but the branches were a bit bare. They went through this in quick succession. Trees that were too tall, some that were too short, some that were too thin, some that had really prickly needles. Finally they found one that was short enough to get into the house and put a star on top of that was also fat enough to fit all the ornaments on. Amanda set up her camera on the tripod and got them a few family pictures until she was satisfied, then demanded the pleasure of taking the handsaw to the base of the tree and shouting “timber” as it fell to the ground.

They got home and set it up near the window across from one of the couches in the living room.

“Gotta say Pops,” Amanda said. “It’s nice to have an actual Christmas tree. Too bad I gotta leave tomorrow.”

“Don’t say that, we’re decorating it tonight and getting a picture of it before you go back to college,” Andrew said. “And stop bringing up that you’re leaving, let me live in denial until tomorrow.”

“Sure thing, Pops,” she said, giving him a hug. “Now let’s make this thing pretty!”

Thus followed an evening of finding the boxes of Christmas ornaments and arranging them on the tree. Some were broken, as per usual. They figured out pretty quickly that keeping Carl Jr (and more importantly his tail, which was prone to wagging) away from the tree was essential and placing non-breakable ornaments on the lower levels while they were gone. First up were all four “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments, Craig and Andrew gushing over their memories of those precious first Christmases with their daughters rolling their eyes over their cheesiness. Once all those ornaments were safely on the tree, they got started on the rest. 

There were stars and horrible child crafted ornaments made of foam and classic colorful glass ornaments. Amanda broke some (accidentally, she claimed). None that were of sentimental value, though. They hung candy canes and strung golden lights through its branches and when that was all done, they covered the tree in tinsel. Finally Craig (because he was the tallest) got up on a step stool and placed a star on the tree and it was done. It was a beautiful sight. 

“It’s gonna be a great Christmas this year,” Amanda declared. “I can already tell.”

“I think you’re right, Manda Panda,” Andrew said.  
***********************************************************************************************************

The house wasn’t the same without Amanda. The most obvious way, of course, was that Andrew was very obviously in a funk, despite the cheerful Christmas tree. It was like this the first time she left for college a couple months ago. It was a little less pronounced this time by the knowledge that she would be back in a couple weeks for a month long winter break, but he was still a little less responsive, animated, and upbeat. 

Craig understood. Sort of. His girls were all pretty young, after all. Even his twins were still in elementary school. They didn’t go away for months on end. Usually just for a weekend. But still, Craig knew that his bro missed his girl. There was nothing to be done but wait for his bro to get it out of his system. It wasn’t easy. How do you get used to someone who’s been your only family being away most of the time?

The weekend after Amanda went back to college, the girls went to Smashley’s house for the weekend. Craig decided to try and help his bro take his mind off of his woes. Through retail therapy. And since the girls were away for the weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to get their Christmas shopping done.

They walked through the doors of the mall and Andrew was suddenly hit with the realization that he had no idea how to shop for a family of athletes. Amanda was more artistic and creative. Most years she was happy with arts and crafts supplies (until she started focusing on photography, that is) or a video game or tv series. Hazel and Briar, however, liked sports. They liked running around outside in sports jerseys and baseball hats and cleats. 

_This is why I ask people what they want before I go shopping,_ he thought. _Though surprise gifts can be better than the stuff you knew you wanted._

That being said, Andrew had lived with them for a few months, so it was easier to think of something than it would have been if he had been trying to think of something just seeing them a few times a week. Hazel was more bold, adventurous, mischievous, and a bit of a hellion. Briar was more shy, thoughtful, got better grades, and a thinker. Both of them had a competitive streak nurtured through years of playing sports. He might not know how to shop for athletes, but he could work with competitive stuff. They walked into a store lined with toys and games and Andrew walked right to the board game section and picked up a game that he played with his family when he visited.

“What’s that, bro?” Craig asked, looking over his shoulder. He was holding a couple of Nerf guns, the kind with the suction cups that stuck to walls. Or people.

“This, bro, is probably one of the best board games ever devised,” Andrew said. 

“You think they’ll like it?” he asked.

“I think they’ll become addicted to it,” Andrew said. He also grabbed an expansion so that the five of them could all play the game together. “The question is, are you prepared to deal with your daughters shooting each other with Nerf guns?”

“I might regret this, but they’ll love it. I just hope they don’t break anything,” he said.

“Good luck with that,” Andrew teased.

They went to a digital supply store next and got some new lenses and filters for Amanda, who had wanted to do some experimenting with her photography once the semester was over. Craig looked around at the smart technology, like washers, refrigerators, and such. Andrew grinned. “In case you were hoping to get one for Christmas,” he teased, “I don’t think I can quite afford a new fridge, bro.”

Craig side-eyed him, but grinned back. “Nah bro, I just think it’s crazy that people actually need to buy stuff like this. I mean, I could barely figure out my smartphone when I first got it.”

“I hear you, bro,” he replied.

On the way out, he spotted the Lord of the Rings extended edition box set for Blu-ray complete with commentaries and cast interviews. Andrew eyed it enviously. He’d never been able to find it when he actually had the money to afford it. Taking care of his daughter was always his first priority. He turned away from it hesitantly and went with Craig to purchase their gifts and head home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm up and I just updated another of my fics so I figured, might as well update this one! I'm sure all of you are so disappointed that I'm not sticking to the schedule. :P
> 
> Find me on tumblr for more geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	18. Feeling Better Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig has some more ideas about how to cheer Andrew up. Andrew's not too sure about his strategy until the cool down happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is NSFW! Don't like, don't read. Though if you don't like, I think you're probably in the wrong fandom. 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for more geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/

They wrapped their gifts and carefully hid them (not in their closet, in case the girls accidentally found Andrew’s dildo collection, which was put somewhere prying eyes and hands couldn’t get to). Andrew knew from experience that the temptation to find gifts and figure out what they were before Christmas day was one of the struggles of the modern parent. Barring a locked safe, they would have to be clever and lucky to successfully hide the gifts from their kids. Eventually, they decided on hiding them in an empty cabinet in the laundry room. 

Andrew felt Craig’s arms wrap around him from behind and he leaned back.

“Feeling better, bro?” he asked.

Andrew sighed contentedly. “Yes, you were right. Retail therapy is a thing and it works.”

“I told you you’d feel better, bro,” Craig said. Andrew could feel his smile against the back of his head.

“Yeah, yeah, you were right, happy?” he asked sarcastically.

“You know what else will make you feel better,” Craig asked, whispering in his ear in the way that always made him shiver with delight and anticipation.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked.

Craig grinned. “Working out! Come on, it’ll be great!”

Andrew groaned internally, suppressing the arousal that had been growing a moment ago. “Yeah, fine. Let me change.”  
************************************************************************************************

Andrew regretted his life choices. Well, some of them. Most notably at the moment was letting Craig convince him to start strength training. He could run pretty well now and before the weather had gotten cold and icy, they had gone out running nearly every day, but he could now successfully run on a treadmill without being catapulted back into a wall like he had the first time. He had, in fact, confessed to his bro that he was getting used to the running machines. So Craig, naturally, proposed moving to weight training.

So that was how Andrew ended up with his back on the workout bench staring up at the 45 pound barbell. Craig had him do a rep with just the bar and, judging that he could do that pretty well, added a ten pound weight on each side of the bar. Andrew did another rep. It was a bit harder, but not really a strain on him. Craig added another set of 10 pound weights. This time he struggled a bit but was able to get the rep done without complaint. Then came another 10 pounds.

“I want you to know, bro,” Andrew said glaring up at him, “if I die, you’re not in my will.”

“Have a little faith in your bro, bro,” Craig joked. He put his hands under the bar to spot his bro. Andrew lifted the bar and did started lifting. Near the end of his rep, he was struggling a bit more.

“You ready for a little more or you need a break, bro?” he asked.

Andrew’s arms felt a bit strained, but nothing really different than how his legs felt when he first started running with Craig all those months ago. He nodded. Craig added another 20 pounds to the barbell. He lay back down on the seat and looked up at the bar. Craig smiled down encouragingly at him. He wrapped his hands around the bar and lifted it off its support. This was harder than last time. He struggled more, but he got through the rep. When he put the bar back he exhaled a relieved breath and his arms fell to the floor. 

“How do you feel, bro?” Craig asked.

“Like my arms might fall off,” Andrew said dryly. “Seriously, how do you do this for fun?”

Craig chuckled lightly. “You get used to it,” he said. “Now get up, I need to do some reps now.”

Andrew groaned and got up. “Bro, I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you if you can’t handle it.”

“Don’t worry, dude,” he said, taking the weights off. “I know my limits.”

Craig added several heavier weights to the bar, to the extent to which Andrew, who had few opportunities to actually see him lift, was a bit frightened of the weight his boyfriend intended to lift. He stood behind the bar and watched his bro wrap his hands around it and breathe deeply. He lifted it up and did a rep like it was nothing. He was impressed. It was kinda a turn on, honestly, watching Craig’s biceps flex under the strain of lifting the weights. After the rep, Craig got up and added a bit more weight and lay back down and lifted the weights again. 

_Shit,_ Andrew thought, watching Craig’s arms flex under the strain of lifting the weights. His gaze drifted dangerously to Craig’s grey sweatpants. _Shit this is a dangerous game._

Eventually Craig finished his 5th rep and got up so Andrew could lay back down for his turn.

I’m really not sure how I’m going to concentrate now, he thought to himself. But he helped Craig take the weights off and put his back on. He looked up and tried, tried to not look at Craig’s sweatpants. It was a valiant effort, in his defense, but unsuccessful nevertheless.

When they finally finished the workout an hour later, Andrew was conflicted. He was turned on, but his arms felt like jelly. Any movement at all was hard and he actually worried if his arms were going to fall off. They got up to the kitchen and Craig tossed him one of his signature protein shakes.

“Good workout, bro,” he grinned. “I’m impressed that you were able to go that long.”

“Trust me bro,” Andrew said taking a drink, “I’m not sure how I did it either.”

“You ready for a cooldown?” he asked.

Andrew groaned. “I’m gonna die, bro.”

“Oh trust me,” Craig said, sliding his arms around him to settle on his waist. “I have a feeling you’ll like this one.” He kissed him deeply, sensually. Andrew returned the kiss eagerly. He wanted this. Needed it. He’d been pent up ever since before the workout.

Craig broke contact and raised a hand up to Andrew’s hair and pulled the band out. He pulled slightly. “Did you see something you liked down there, baby?” he asked huskily.

Andrew moaned. “Yesss.” Somehow Craig’s dirty talk always got to him, drove him wild.

Craig started peeling his shirt off and Andrew raised his arms obediently for Craig to take his off. His breath caught as Craig ran his hands lovingly over his body. He kissed him. He felt hot and flustered and hard and this man, this wonderful, frustrating man who knew that he was making him hot and bothered was going too slow! He grabbed Craig’s sweatpants around the waistband and shucked them to the floor. Craig chuckled as his hard cock bounced up against his abs before bobbing in front of Andrew’s face, enticing and inviting.

“Impatient are we?” he teased. Andrew glared up at him and took the cock in his hand and licked the head. He savored the slightly salty taste of pre cum and the sound of Craig’s lustful moan. He licked slowly, vengefully up the shaft before taking the tip into his mouth. Craig bucked slightly, trying to get Andrew to actually take him into his mouth. Andrew just ducked down and licked Craig’s balls, breathing in the sweaty, musky scent of him.

“Please, bro,” Craig moaned desperately, leaning back against the counter.

“What do you want, bro?” he asked. He took the cock in his hand again and stroked it lazily as he licked the tip.

“God, dude, anything,” he replied.

“You gotta be more specific, bro,” he teased. He raised his other hand to tease a nipple as he continued his stroking. “Anything can mean a lot of things.”

Craig moaned again and Andrew felt his nipple get hard. They always were sensitive. It was one of Andrew’s favorite things about his body. “Please… nghh… suck my dick, bro.”

Andrew grinned. “Absolutely.” He took his boyfriend in all the way to the root and grinned around his cock as he heard him moan. He came off and slid back down eagerly, sucking his bro like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Craig kept bucking his hips trying to get more of him in his lover’s mouth. Andrew moaned around it and Craig shouted his name and he felt a perverse sense of satisfaction.

He popped very deliberately off Craig’s cock and wrapped his hand around the base. He looked up into Craig’s eyes as he sensuously licked the head, savoring the taste of his pre-cum. Craig’s eyes were almost completely black with lust He dropped his face down to Craig’s balls, and licked as he slowly pumped his lover. He popped one of them in his mouth as he looked into his eyes and sucked gently on it. 

Craig finally threw his head back and shouted, “FUCK!!”

Andrew chuckled in triumph and let the ball fall out of his mouth. “You good bro?” he asked mischievously. He moved to lick the other ball. 

“Ooooohhh Jesus Christ, bro,” Craig moaned. His abs were flexing as he tried to hold back his climax and Andrew grinned. He left his ball to return his mouth to the sensitive cock. He kept staring up at Craig, loving the way his muscled torso moved in reaction to him as he bobbed up and down on his lover’s cock. Craig’s hands found their way to the back of his head and he swallowed him down to the root, burying his nose in the hair. Craig held him there, choking him with his cock until Andrew came off him and breathed. His eyes were watering slightly when he looked up at Craig’s face. He stroked his face.

“You take my big cock so good, baby,” he said. Andrew didn’t reply. He just smiled and sank back down on his cock. Not so deep this time. Just enough to drive his lover wild as he ran his tongue along the bottom of his cock. 

Suddenly Craig pulled his hair and Andrew popped off his cock and he was being kissed passionately. Craig bit his lips and he gasped as his entered his mouth. Then Craig did the unexpected thing. He leaned down and picked up his legs and Andrew yelped in shock, hooking his legs around Craig’s waist and his arms around his neck as Craig carried him to the living room and deposited him on the couch. Andrew sat up to see Craig’s cock still in front of him and he began sucking again without hesitation. He palmed himself through his gym shorts and moaned again. Craig put his hands on the back of his head and Andrew braced himself for him to start fucking his face. It was rough and dirty, his cock hitting the back of his throat and his balls smacking against his chin and he loved it. 

“Shit bro,” Craig moaned, pausing so Andrew could breathe before sliding back in. “Your mouth feels so good.” Andrew merely hummed in response. He couldn’t think of anything else, his hands roaming over Craig’s muscled form, his mouth being used.

Suddenly he stopped and Andrew whined as Craig withdrew completely from his mouth. He was breathing heavily and his heart was racing. Some cooldown, he thought. Craig walked over to where he’d deposited his gym bag the day before and pulled out a bottle of lube. Andrew’s mouth went dry and he tore his shorts off and kicked them to one side of the room. They landed on Craig’s face instead. 

“Very sexy, bro,” he teased and tossed them aside.

“Shut up,” he replied. “You love my dorkiness.”

“Among other things,” Craig said. He uncapped the bottle and spread some over his fingers.

Andrew shook his head. “Bro, please just fuck me,” he pleaded rolling over and leaning on one of the couch’s arms. 

Craig blinked. “A-are you sure, bro?” he asked. “I don’t wanna hurt you, you know?”

“Dude, I’ll be fine. Just please fuck me already,” he begged. He rocked back against Craig’s dick for emphasis.

Craig grinned and his pupils dilated even more with lust. He flipped Andrew over and hooked his legs around him. “I want to see your face when you cum, baby,” he said. 

He spread a generous amount of lube over his cock and pressed it against his bro’s hole. Andrew hissed as it breached him. Craig went slowly, but it still burned a bit more than it would have otherwise. And Andrew didn’t care one bit. Finally, Craig seated himself fully inside him and Andrew gasped as he adjusted. Craig leaned down and kissed him. “God you’re so tight like this,” he whispered against him. Andrew smiled and bit his bottom lip and Craig moaned playfully and moved slightly. Andrew’s back arched, bringing his body against him and Craig wrapped his arms around his lover as he moved slowly and sensuously inside him. Andrew dug his fingers into Craig’s broad, muscular back. Craig’s eyes darkened in response. 

“I’m good,” Andrew said. “You can go faster now.”

Craig growled and quickened his pace, his hips slapping against his lover’s thighs. Andrew reached down to stroke himself as he moaned out his pleasure, but Craig slapped his hand away and wrapped his hand still slick with lube around Andrew’s dick. Andrew loosed a wanton moan as he felt his lover stroke him in tandem with his thrusts. He clung to him as he rode out his lover’s relentless fucking.

Craig didn’t so much kiss him as claim his mouth. He paused in his fucking and just rolled his hips and Andrew swore loudly into Craig’s hot mouth as he felt his cock rubbing against his prostate. He felt Craig’s smug grin against his lips. This must be revenge for the blowjob, Andrew thought. It took all his effort to string that one thought together. He was overwhelmed. Craig’s cock filling him, rubbing against his prostate, Craig’s muscular arm around him, his other hand around his cock, his lips kissing him. 

Craig began to increase his pace again, fucking deep into him. Andrew broke contact with his boyfriend and arched his back as Craig fucked him senseless, releasing a loud, steady stream of curses. He had a moment of clarity and looked into Craig’s eyes.

“I love you, Craig,” he gasped. “I love you so much.”

Craig kissed him hotly and hummed into his mouth. “I love you, too, Andrew,” he said. He increased his pace even more and Andrew wrapped his arms around his arms around Craig’s neck and clung to him as he felt Craig’s cock moving in and out of him rapidly.

He felt his climax building and kissed him. As they breathed in each other’s breath, he tightened around Craig’s cock and cried out as he came in spurts in Craig’s hand. Craig fucked him even faster and he felt him pulse inside him. He bellowed as he emptied himself inside his lover and collapsed against him.

It took them a minute before they caught their breath. “You know,” Craig whispered between breaths, “that was supposed to be a cooldown, not a workout.”

Andrew smirked and pressed his lips to Craig’s. “Maybe we can do that for round two,” he said.

Craig laughed. “Give me a minute bro, I gotta rest.”

Andrew smiled. “Sure thing, bro.”


	19. Pickles and Smores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas Eve.

The immediate problem they had with the Christmas presents was how they would put them under the tree when Carl Jr was still at the age when he was prone to eating random stuff when left to his own devices. Andrew wasn’t willing to risk his presents being eaten by the dog, no matter how friendly and adorable he looked with the kids. Fortunately the gifts could be stored out of reach until Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Carl Jr had figured out how to open doors and had gotten to the size where doing so was relatively easy. Andrew had taken to locking the doors to their room and having the twins lock their room so that he wouldn’t be tempted to eat pillows or toys or leave some other variety of mess on the floor.

Somehow, by the time Christmas Eve rolled around all the presents were wrapped and intact. River had started speaking in sentences about a week ago and Amanda had taken great pride when she had mispronounced her name as “Panda”. They were simple sentences like “I’m hungry” or “I need potty” or, Craig’s personal favorite, “Bro!” which she used indiscriminately on everyone. Craig’s eyes filled with tears every time she said it.

Today, they were getting ready to hide the Christmas Pickle, the tradition where the parents hid the ornament on the tree and the first child to find it would get an extra present that year. Naturally, Hazel and Briar were extremely competitive about it. Amanda was just as bad, since they had never done the Christmas pickle thing, mostly because she was an only child. But she was determined to find the pickle as if she had spent every year honing her pickle radar in preparation for this day. Craig had already caught and chastised him trying to hide the pickle up high in the tree, putting Hazel and Briar at a disadvantage.

“Come on bro, be fair,” he said.

“Can you blame me for trying, bro?” he responded, chuckling.

“No, but let’s at least try not to be partial towards our girls,” Craig replied. He took the pickle and looked at the tree for a while. “What do you say we hide it… here?” It was on the left side of the tree, behind various branches and a “River’s First Christmas!” ornament, among others a little higher than eye level for the twins so that any of them could spot it, theoretically.

“Looks good to me,” he said. “And I promise not to help my daughter win.”

“Great! Let’s bring them in.”

The girls sped into the living room as soon as Craig called them. Amanda looked at him and he shook his head. She scowled playfully at him but quickly returned her attention to the tree. All of them walked around the tree, staring into the needles, looking for the Christmas Pickle. Andrew sat on the couch with River in his lap.

“What sissies doing?” she asked.

Andrew looked down. “They’re looking for the pickle,” he said.

“Why?” 

“So Santa Claus will bring them an extra present tonight,” he said. It was a good thing it was still morning. Someone could sneak out of the house and grab an extra present and be back before anyone was the wiser. He couldn’t imagine racing out of the house in a mad dash to get to the stores before they closed to get an extra present.

“Santa Claus?” she asked.

“Yes, Santa’s coming and he’s going to bring all kinds of presents,” he explained. River went back to playing with Arnold. She didn’t understand yet. Maybe by the time next Christmas rolled around she would. He returned his attention to the older girls looking around the tree. Hazel and Briar had mirroring looks of frustration. Amanda, meanwhile looked determined. They’d been at it for a while now. Craig sat down next to him on the couch. 

“We might have made it a little too hard, bro,” he said.

“Are you kidding, bro?” he replied. “They look like they’re having fun! Relax.”

A few minutes later, Amanda shouts, “Aha! Found it!” and reaches into the tree and pulls out the Christmas Pickle. Andrew cheers while the twins groan audibly. The first year neither of them had won. Amanda danced around the room in triumph.   
**********************************************************************************************************

Craig walked into the mall feeling insecure and slightly terrified and regretting his insistence that he be the one to buy Amanda’s extra gift. He didn’t really feel bad, but he was instantly overwhelmed with the knowledge of how little he knew about his bro’s daughter. They had hung out a little bit, but Andrew hadn’t moved in until she had left for college, so Amanda hadn’t been living with him as long. He quietly wondered whether he would ever be as close with her as Andrew was with his girls.

_Right, enough of that,_ he thought to himself. _You know enough about her to buy her a nice Christmas present. You got this._

He went to the Goth stores first, since she had some interest in that stuff. However, the moment he stepped foot inside each of them he was painfully aware of just how little he understood Goth. And of course he was afraid of buying her something she already had and he had no idea what she had or didn’t have because hell, Andrew could barely keep up with the names of her friends, never mind what she owned as far as her wardrobe was concerned. And honestly he wanted to get something a little more meaningful than a t-shirt.

He briefly considered going to the video game store, but he didn’t even know if she played video games. And what if she didn’t and he got her game that was not only not her thing, but completely unplayable since it was for the wrong platform? Maybe he should call his bro and ask for help cause this was more stressful than he had thought it would be.

Suddenly his personal phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out. It was Amanda. _Don’t overthink it, dude. I’m a simple gal with simple wants._

_That’s helpful,_ he thought. He looked up. He was in front of a pet supply store. Inside was one of those throws with huskies in some kind of wintery background. The last thing he wanted was to put ideas in his kids’ heads that they were going to have more than one big dog in their house in the foreseeable future, but he did remember that Amanda had been ecstatic when she met Carl Jr, followed quickly by fake exasperated when she heard the name before she raved about how much she loved dogs for a solid 10 minutes.

_Simple wants, huh?_ he thought. _I can work with that._

He went in, bought the throw and some more toys for Carl Jr, since he went through toys like nobody’s business. He made sure to get a couple that were rubber rather than stuffed so they’d last longer. Among the original toys they had gotten him, there was only one that he hadn’t completely destroyed; a duck that made some imitation quacking noise. It seemed to be his favorite and he refused to sleep in his bed unless the duck was there. Not coincidentally, Craig was sure, the duck was also River’s favorite toy when playing with him. 

The throw was wrapped quickly in a wrapping paper decorated with dogs wearing antlers and red noses. He had the cashier write “To: Amanda Ann, From: Santa” in flowing script on the tag. He didn’t take any chances. Hazel and Briar were going to be 11 next year (God help me, I’m not ready, he thought) and he didn’t want them to stop believing in Santa because they could recognize his handwriting. So Andrew had written most of the “From Santa” gifts and Craig had written the ones that “weren’t”. He texted his bro that he was done and on the way home so that he could get the kids out of the house or something while he snuck the gifts inside without their suspicion.  
**********************************************************************************************************

Andrew could see the lists forming in Craig’s mind. He was actually pretty sure that if Craig were stressed enough he would make lists in his sleep. Of course, the holidays could be stressful at the best of times so it was hardly surprising. He walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around his torso, kissing the back of his neck softly. “It’s okay, bro. Relax.”

He felt his hard muscles relax a bit at his touch and he smiled. “What’s eating you, bro?”

Craig took a deep breath. “I was just wondering if I would ever be as close with Amanda as you are with my girls,” he admitted. “She’s at college so we don’t spend a lot of time together, but I want us to be close.”

“You want her to see you as her other father,” he said. He felt Craig nod. “It’ll happen.”

“How can you be so sure?” Craig asked.

“Because I know her. And I know you. You’ll get there,” he said confidently. He kissed him again. “Now come on! It’s a Wonderful Life is on in like 10 minutes. You want to get to know Amanda better you won’t miss it.”

Craig didn’t follow him immediately, but to Andrew’s immense surprise, he entered the living room with eggnog (alcoholic for the two of them), popcorn, and s’mores supplies. By the time the movie started, there was a fire roaring nicely in the fireplace and they all took turns during the commercial breaks making s’mores. Surprisingly, it was Briar, not Hazel, who took after Craig’s barbaric habit of burning her marshmallows before sticking them on between the graham crackers and chocolate.

“Seriously, dude?” she said to Craig while she expertly toasted her marshmallow to a lovely golden brown. “Who burns their marshmallows and likes it?”

“Uh, I do, kid because it’s great,” Craig said matter-of-factly. “You and my bro just don’t understand how delicious it is.”

“I mean, it’s not surprising that a health nut can’t make a proper marshmallow,” she said, smugly holding out her perfectly toasted marshmallow for him to see.

Craig inspected it, then before she could retract her marshmallow to safety, he opened his mouth and ate it. Andrew covered his snigger with his hand as he watched Craig grin around the stolen treat while Amanda looked on, devastated that she had been outwitted. “It’s okay,” he said smugly. 

Amanda glared at him. She punched his stomach and Craig didn’t even flinch. Amanda, however, grabbed her wrist and stared at him in amazement.

“Ow! When people talk about rock hard abs, I thought they were just using a figure of speech!” she cried. “Now you’ve done it. This means war!” At that moment the television announced the return of the movie. “At the next commercial break.”

Sure enough, at the next commercial break Amanda grabbed her set of prongs that she used for her marshmallow and shouted, “En garde!” at Craig, who grabbed his set just in time to defend himself from her onslaught. They battled around the living room while Andrew and the twins made themselves more s’mores. This was, shockingly, the first time they had seen the movie. It was a yearly Wilson family tradition and the only one that he actually liked. Usually, his family went to Christmas Eve Mass, which was nice, but Andrew stopped being religious a long time ago.

Amanda and Craig’s duel had ended. She had lost. Amanda was now firmly in a headlock while Craig nuggied her relentlessly.

“Say it!” he said. “Say uncle!”

“Never! Death before dishonor!” she cried as she tried to escape. No good. Craig was too strong and he was clearly used to smaller, more agile victims. Amanda didn’t stand a chance. “Dad, help me!”

“Do you think we should help her?” Andrew asked the twins. They thought for a moment.

“No,” said Hazel.

“Yes, the movie’s probably going to be on soon,” Briar protested.

“You make an excellent point, Briar,” Andrew replied.

“But how are you going to help? Dad’s too strong,” Hazel said.

Andrew put a finger to his nose conspiratorially. “Watch closely.” He walked over to the ottoman where the struggle was taking place and poked Craig’s side. He instantly yelped and jumped up, throwing up his hands to ward off his new attacker. When he saw that it was his bro, he scowled at him. The twins watched in amazement and Andrew could practically see Hazel concocting a scheme in her wicked little mind.

“Traitor,” he said. 

“Hey, commercials are almost done, you can get back to it later,” Andrew said, smugly. He turned to Amanda who was massaging her scalp and handed her a s’more with a perfectly toasted marshmallow. “Great effort, sweet pea,” he said.

“Next time, I’ll get him,” she said with determination as she bit eagerly into her s’more.

“Is this going to become a Christmas tradition?” Andrew asked. “Making s’mores and sword fights with the prongs?”

Craig grinned. “I’m up for it if she is.”

“Bring it on, old man!” she replied. “I’ll get you one of these days!”

“Merry Christmas, everyone,” Andrew said.

“Shhh!” the twins hissed. “The movie’s back on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure how my stories got so in sync, I'm really not. Merry Christmas!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for various geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	20. A Not So Silent Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas Day. That means nice, familial fluff. And a bit of smut, so the last portion of the chapter is NSFW. Those of you who have read The Suit may find some common themes. This will be a one time thing in this story, though. This Craig isn't that into that kind of thing.

Christmas morning arrived and Andrew was woken up by two screaming kids bursting through the room shouting that Santa had been here last night and jumping on the bed trying to wake them up. Andrew groaned and rolled over with a pillow over his head. “5 more minutes, kids,” he implored. “It’s not Christmas Day until 9.”

“But papa, it’s 8:30!” Hazel said. “By the time you get downstairs it’ll be 9!”

“Ouch kid,” he replied. He rolled back over to glare blearily at his daughter. She grinned and poked him in the side, and was shocked to discover that Andrew, unlike Craig, was not ticklish. Briar, who was fascinated by this turn of events, poked Craig in the side. Craig yelped and shot up and grabbed Briar in a headlock and started to nuggie her in response. She shrieked and tried to get away.

“Nope, you poke me, you better be able to handle the consequences,” he said. “Say uncle.”

“Uncle! Uncle!” she cried. Craig let her go and she fled the room and ran downstairs. Hazel followed soon after. Craig lay back down on the bed.

“Well, I’m awake, thanks to you teaching the girls about my one weakness,” he said. “Ready to get up?”

Andrew grinned smugly. “Make me,” he said, rolling over. 

“As much as I would like to, I don’t want to scar my kids if they come back up here to wonder why it’s taking so long,” Craig said. “But I promise, later, I’ll get my revenge on you.”

 _Well that sounds promising,_ Andrew thought. “I look forward to it,” he said rolling back over to smile at him.

A few minutes later they were downstairs and Andrew turned on the coffee while Craig helped the twins with their stockings. They contained, much to their excitement and Craig’s shock, lots of chocolate. Andrew said nothing but lifted his mug to his lips and took a looong sip. Amanda shrugged and mirrored him.

Finally, since they were all assembled, they got together on the floor to open the presents. Hazel and Briar tore into their presents with enthusiasm. They were most excited for the Nerf guns from “Santa” and a remote control helicopter that Amanda had gotten them. Eventually they got to Andrew’s present to them, Settlers of Catan. They were politely excited. Not that Andrew had been expecting the same level of enthusiasm that they had had for the nerf guns. 

Amanda gave her dad a set of candid photos of him and their new family. His eyes filled with tears when he saw a black and white picture of him and Craig together, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes while they had been happily oblivious of her presence. Another was their poker game from Thanksgiving. There were other pictures of him playing with the twins, one where he was being their pony out in the yard. In another there was a picture of him playing with River while Carl Jr was licking his face. The last one was another picture of everyone at Thanksgiving. Their new family. He looked at his daughter. “It’s beautiful, dear,” he said. “Thank you.” He leaned over and hugged her tightly.

“Merry Christmas, Pops,” she said. “I have other copies and pictures that we can hang up around the house. Feel like we should be somewhere in here since we live here now.”

Craig’s gift was less emotional, but Andrew cheered loudly when he opened it. The box set of The Lord of the Rings Blu-ray extended edition. He kissed his bro, his eyes dancing with excitement. “How did you know?”

“I saw you staring at it when we went shopping that one time,” he replied, blushing a little bit. “Merry Christmas, bro.”

“Merry Christmas, bro,” he replied, kissing him again. He heard a camera shutter click a few times and he turned to see Amanda holding her camera, ostensibly showing Hazel and Briar how it worked.

“Is it a keeper?” Craig asked.

“You bet, dude,” Amanda said giving him a thumbs up.

Craig opened his presents, which included fitness tracks from the twins and a framed portrait of Andrew from Amanda for his office. It was Andrew’s turn to snap a couple pictures of them hugging each other when Craig opened that one. Then Craig opened Andrew’s gift to him, which turned out to be something called a traxedo, a track suit made to look like a tuxedo. Craig laughed and kissed his bro. “I love it, dude. Merry Christmas.”

Andrew smiled into the kiss. “Merry Christmas, bro.”  
*************************************************************************************************************************************

Sometime around noon, Smashley arrived with her gifts for the girls in tow. Briar and Hazel excitedly showed her what Santa had brought them. She slightly winced when they showed her their Nerf guns. Andrew just shrugged, indicating that it wasn’t his idea. 

“Merry Christmas, dude,” she said, punching his shoulder lightly. “He didn’t give you an exercise outfit, did he?”

Andrew laughed. “No, don’t worry.” He led her into the living room where the twins were taking turns shooting a target they had set up on the other side of the living room away from any pictures or the tree. Craig emerged from the kitchen wearing the traxedo that Andrew had gotten him. Smashley looked him up and down and laughed.

“Dude, what are you wearing?” she asked.

“It’s a traxedo,” he said with a goofy grin on his face. He spun around, showing off his new track suit. “Andrew got it for me.”

“I like it,” Andrew said.

“Hey as long as you two like it, that’s all that matters,” she said. “Where did you find that thing, anyway?”

“The Internet,” he said. “Where else?”

“I should have known. Knowing him, though, he’ll probably release and entire line of these things just because you bought one for him.” They sat down on the couch and rehashed what they had been up to during the past month. Craig went to the kitchen and started working on the holiday meal. Before long everyone was sitting in the living room smelling the ham and demanding when the food would be done. Amanda was put in charge of peeling potatoes. By popular demand, Andrew was made to prepare a cherry pie (something which shocked Smashley). It was tricky to share the kitchen with so many people. As good as Craig was in the kitchen, it wasn’t designed with so many adults in mind. So naturally there was a lot of light-hearted bickering involved in the cooking itself.

When Amanda was done with her potatoes, she left to help the kids figure out the Settlers of Catan game Andrew had gotten them. Once Andrew was finished with his pie he set it aside to set and ventured out to find Smashley, Amanda, and Hazel entering intense negotiations with Briar, who had developed a monopoly on wood, which everyone else needed desperately. Unfortunately, no one else had managed to develop a monopoly of any of the other resources, so Briar was sitting comfortably at the top. 

“Briar, I will let you sleep with Carl Jr tonight if you give me some wood for my sheep,” Hazel said.

“We’re going home with Mom, Hazel,” she pointed out. “Nice try.”

“Dammit,” she said. Then hastily covered her mouth and looked sheepishly at her mother.

“Hazel! Language,” she said sharply.

“You’re frustrated, too,” she said.

“That’s the game, Hazel,” she said. “Briar, could I interest you in some wheat?”

Briar thought about it for a minute. “Hmm… can I stay up late tonight?”

Smashley’s eyes narrowed. “How late are we talking here, girl?”

“Until midnight,” she said.

“Sure, if you give me all your wood,” she said.

“Nope, sorry,” she said smugly. It was her turn now. She shook the dice up in her hand and held them out to him. He blew on the dice and she threw them. 7. She could move the thief. She cheered and everyone else groaned as she moved the thief from a tile that was set on one of Amanda’s bricks to one of Smashley’s wheat. 

“You traitor,” Amanda said in her playfully serious tone. “Turning on your only daughter.”

“But I’m not a traitor because you’re not my only daughter anymore,” he said. “I have 4 and you happen to be the oldest.”

“Ugh, I liked it better when I was an only child,” she said playfully.

“Well, I’m disowning you, kid,” Smashley said, glowering at her middle daughter. “Hazel and River are my only children now.”

“Who needs family when you rule the world?” she said triumphantly.

“Move over, and deal us in,” Craig said.

“We can’t we’re already in the middle of the game,” Briar cried, against everyone else’s enthusiastic pleas to start over.

“Well how about this,” Andrew proposed. “Craig can help Hazel and I’ll team up with Amanda and we’ll play that way.”

This, it turned out, was a terrible idea. For Briar anyway. Her wood monopoly was completely undone when Andrew rolled another 7 and moved the thief to one of her wood tiles. Then everyone managed, in quick succession, to roll that number for a whole round of the game, robbing her until all she was left with was wood and her monopoly was no longer any good. She was blacklisted. Craig, it turned out, was either extremely lucky or just extremely good at the game. Or maybe his business sense helped give him and Hazel an edge. He turned their overabundance of sheep into a sprawling metropolis of rock, wheat, and sheep that they maintained until it won them the game. Briar vowed revenge and was about to call for a rematch until River began demanding to be let out of her play pen.

Andrew walked over to discover, to his shock, that Carl Jr had somehow gotten into the play pen with River and had completely succeeded in not destroying any of her toys, especially Arnold. They had probably been cuddling happily, since River was pretty tuckered out after opening presents and playing with her new toys. But now she was ready to get out and Carl Jr was struggling to get out of the play pen as well.

“Craig!” Andrew called, picking up River before Carl Jr could tip over the play pen.

Craig walked in, looked at the situation, and picked up Carl Jr, who licked his face gratefully. “Bleh,” Craig said playfully, ruffling up his fur. Carl Jr danced around wagging his tail, clearly energized and ready to play.

“Puppy wants to play!” River said helpfully, clapping her hands.

“You wanna play with Carl Jr?” Andrew asked holding her up.

“Yeah!” she shouted squirming around in his arms. He set her down on the floor and she ran over to Smashley. “Mommy, play with me!” 

“Okay, what are we playing?” she asked as River took her finger and led them over to Carl’s toy bin.

“Tuggar!” she said.

“What’s tuggar?” she asked. River bent down in her awkward, almost 2 year old style and picked up a length of knotted rope. “Carljur,” she called. Carl Jr came trotting up, his tail wagging playfully when he spotted the rope. Smashley looked at Andrew and Craig for translation.

“She still messes up some words when she’s excited. She wants to play tug of war with Carl Jr,” Andrew explained. “She wants you to help her win.”

“Ah,” she said sitting down. “Let’s show this puppy who’s boss, huh River?” 

She took the end that River was holding and pulled gently, helping her but not enough to definitely win. Carl Jr was digging in his paws and pulling back as much as he could, which was considerable, since his breed was bred to cart things. Craig left them in the living room to check on the ham and get started on the mashed potatoes and make sure the twins and Amanda hadn’t helped themselves to the pie while no one was looking.  
***********************************************************************************************************************************  
Eventually dinner was ready and they all sat down to eat. Even River was given some tiny servings of ham (cut into convenient, baby bite pieces), potatoes, and peas. Craig was still dressed in his traxedo, something that amused Andrew to no end. There was ham with a cranberry mustard glaze and pineapples skewered into its hid with toothpicks, mashed potatoes, red eye gravy, peas, glazed carrots, and Amanda’s favorite mac and cheese with bacon. Food was passed around and all the girls received a serving of vegetables, with Craig assuring them that just because it was Christmas didn’t mean that they got a free pass on not eating their vegetables.

“Besides,” Andrew said. “The carrots are glazed. They’ll taste good.”

“What?” Craig asked.

“What.” Andrew replied.

“What do you mean the carrots are glazed?” Craig asked, looking sharply at his bro. “Glazed with what?”

“Honey?” Andrew asked innocently. Craig speared a carrot and popped it in his mouth. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them to glare at him.

“I’m going to be angry about this,” he said. “But later.”

“I love you, too, bro,” Andrew said, laying a hand on his. Craig merely grumbled as he put another glazed carrot in his mouth. 

The rest of the dinner passed more or less smoothly. Hazel, Briar, and Amanda rehashed how their rematch game of Settlers had gone, resulting in Briar claiming the seat as queen of the house. Until Craig pointed out that since he and Andrew paid the bills, that made her top princess. Which she was okay with. Then River began a rambling recount of how Arnold the Capybara and her favorite present (from Amanda, no less) a stuffed elephant she named Penny, had become best friends and everyone listened attentively until she became distracted by her peas touching her potatoes, which was greatly distressing and required Smashley’s valiant intervention to separate them.

Amanda talked eagerly about the dog throw she had received from “Santa” and how great it would be at college, both for comfort and decoration. Andrew saw Craig flush a little at her excitement and how much she liked the gift. He knew how much it meant to know that she liked her present so much. He made no mention of it, since the twins still believed in Santa. 

When the meal was done, the twins ran off to pack their night bags, as Smashley was taking them for the evening and the next. Craig hugged and kissed his girls goodbye and wished them a last Merry Christmas. He cried a little bit as he watched his girls pile into Smashley’s car and drive off. Andrew wrapped his right arm around Craig’s waist, but said nothing. Craig returned the gesture.

“Merry Christmas, bro,” Andrew said. “I love you.”

“I love you too, bro,” he replied, kissing his cheek. “Merry Christmas. Speaking of which, I have something else for you.”

Andrew’s eyebrows rose and he followed his bro eagerly up the stairs and prepped himself for what was surely going to be a fun night.  
*******************************************************************************************************************************************

Andrew mewled, mewled, into the kiss. It was hot and intense. Of course, that might have been the eggnog. Though he had only had the one glass so that probably wasn’t it. Craig tore his shirt off. He felt Craig back him up to the bed and push him onto it as soon as the back of his legs hit the mattress.

“So,” he breathed between kisses. “When am I getting my gift?”

Craig hummed as he kissed him under his ear, making Andrew writhe beneath his lover. “Close your eyes.”

Andrew complied, grinning happily. _What could he be planning?_ he wondered to himself, trying to contain his excitement. Craig slowly took off his pants and freed his half hard cock from his boxers. _That was fast,_ he thought. It was so rare for them to do something different in bed. The most that they ever did was something with one of his dildos. He felt Craig roll him over. Andrew was actually a bit nervous about telling his bro about some of the things he was interested in doing in bed— 

The mechanical sound of handcuffs closing around his wrists above his head broke him out of his musing. His hands were cuffed around one of the columns of the headboard. He was bound in a prostrate position on the bed, his legs bent beneath him and his ass in the air. His eyes snapped open and he looked up at the smug glint of Craig’s eyes looking down at him. “Is this okay?” he asked uncertainly. “I was thinking of trying something new…” 

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I’m not okay with it.”

“Should we have a safe word or something?” he asked.

Andrew thought about it for a moment before he said, “If I want you to stop, I’ll say ‘pine-sol.’ If I say that, you need to stop everything and let me out of these cuffs and we’ll be done for the night. It’s your job to make sure I’m okay with what’s happening here, and my job to let you know if I’m not.”

He saw Craig swallow and nod. “Now that that’s out of the way, let’s have some fun,” he grinned, mischievously.

Craig’s eyes darkened with arousal. “In that case, I thought I told you to close your eyes,” he said lowly. Andrew shivered and closed his eyes. He felt Craig lean over him. He could sense his powerful body hovering over him, the evidence of his arousal straining against his track pants. He felt something silky slide over his eyes and he realized that Craig had tied a tie over him as a blindfold. He opened his eyes and was met with an inky blackness. He couldn’t see anything.

“You’ve been naughty,” Craig whispered into his ear. Andrew felt himself get hard instantly and he strained against his constraints as he rutted into the sheets. Craig straightened his legs and returned him to the prostrate position. “You need to be punished.” His breathe stopped. He cried out as Craig’s hand came down sharply on his ass. “Do you know why?” Another slap landed on his ass.

“No, bro,” he whimpered. A small part of him was ashamed that he was so submissive so quickly, but it was a very small part. 

Another hand came down on his ass and this time he managed not to cry out. “You should call me sir, baby,” he whispered into his ear. “I’m not your bro tonight.”

If it were possible for Andrew to get any harder, he would probably explode. “Yes, sir.” Craig massaged his ass in response, rewarding him for his obedience.

“You interrupt my regimen by tempting me with your pretty ass. I can’t concentrate at work because I’m thinking of what I want to do to you. How am I supposed to get anything done with you putting these thoughts in my head?”

“I’m sorry sir,” he said. “I won’t do it again, I promise.” Craig brought down another hand on his ass and he did cry out this time.

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, baby,” Craig said lowly. “I’d just have to punish you again.”

“Yes, sir,” he whimpered again. 

Andrew felt Craig brushed his hand over Andrew’s ass, his fingers teasing his entrance. He moaned at the sensation, at his bro’s calloused hands on his ass. “Do you know what I think about? What you put in my head?” Andrew whined and said nothing. He heard the lube bottle open and a moment later, Craig pressed a cold, lubed finger to his entrance. He gasped at the intrusion.

“I think about how pretty your mouth would look around my cock,” he said, pressing his calloused finger into him. Andrew squirmed around until he was stopped by Craig’s other hand smacking him hard on the ass. “I think about how pretty your moans are when I tease you, how you moan like a bitch,” he reached up with his free hand and pulled his hair back as he inserted another lubed finger into his ass. Andrew gasped again and spread his legs to provide better leverage as he arched his back. “I think about how you look when you’re fucking yourself on your toys when no one’s home.” Another smack. Another moan escaped his mouth. “Have you been having fun without me, baby?”

Andrew whimpered. “No, sir.” Another smack landed on his ass and he cried out.

“Don’t lie to me,” Craig whispered into his ear. “Tell me the truth.”

“Yes, sir. I haven’t had fun without you, sir. Please believe me,” he begged. Craig was silent for a while. Andrew just moaned and whined as his fingers pumped in and out of his ass, stretching him as they teased his prostate. He wanted more so badly. Then Craig released his grip on his hair and his head fell down between his arms. 

“I believe you,” he said, as he pushed a third finger into his ass. Andrew whined. “Shit,” he hissed. 

“You good, baby?” Craig asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, sir,” he replied. Better than fine, he thought. This is amazing!

Craig began to fuck him with just his fingers at an agonizingly slow pace. He whined again. “Please…”

“Please, what baby?” Craig asked. He could practically feel the smirk on his face. _Stupid bastard._

“Please touch me, sir,” he whined. It was desperate and debauched. He felt Craig’s other hand caress his back, then his side, then his abdomen, and finally his hand wrapped around his aching cock. He moaned loudly as Craig stroked him gently. “Oh God oh fuck,” he moaned. It was too much, he wouldn’t last long, like this.

Suddenly, Craig slipped his fingers out of his ass and removed his hand from his cock. Andrew whined again at the sudden loss of contact. He heard the lube bottle snap open again and he knew what was coming. He shivered with anticipation when he heard Craig spreading the lube over his cock. He fought the urge to hold his breath when he felt the head of Craig’s cock against his hole. It was a good thing too, as Craig, rather than enter him slowly as he usually did, sheathed himself inside him in one go and it burned and the moan that escaped his throat was utterly wanton. It wasn’t fast, but it was faster than he normally went. It was a good thing that his ass was used to Craig’s size by now.

“Oh Christ,” he gasped. 

“You okay, baby,” he asked.

“Yeah, just give me a minute, please sir?” he said. He breathed deeply as he adjusted to him, then nodded.

Craig didn’t even bother going slowly. He used one hand to press Andrew’s body into the mattress and fucked him into it. He moaned profanities into the pillow beneath him with every thrust of his dick. Craig rammed into him again and again, hitting his prostate with every thrust. He could hear their flesh slapping together, feel Craig’s balls as slapped against his ass. He could hear Craig moaning and grunting as he fucked mercilessly into him. Even though he couldn’t see anything past the tie, he squeezed his eyes shut as Craig dominated him. It was overwhelming, he couldn’t even think. Just that it felt amazing.

Craig paused to adjust his angle and kept on fucking him and smacked his ass again for good measure. Andrew released a strangled cry. Craig just gripped his hips and continued his relentless assault. He could feel his climax building. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t form. He bit the pillow beneath him and groaned as his orgasm swept through him like a hurricane, cumming in long spurts. He felt himself tighten around Craig’s cock and just moaned as Craig kept fucking him, without slowing down even a bit. A few minutes later, Craig bellowed and he felt his cock pulse as his warm seed shot deep into his ass. Craig thrust into him sharply as he came until he was spent. It was done.

Andrew breathed deeply after one of the most intense fucking he had received since his stretch of abstinence had ended with Craig. He felt the bed shift as his bro collapsed next to him.

“Craig bro,” he rasped. 

“Yeah, bro?”

“A little help here?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, right,” he said. He quickly took the tie off his head and Andrew blinked at the light a bit while Craig got the key to the handcuffs and unlocked him from the bed. As soon as he was free, Andrew collapsed against the bed and cuddled up with his bro.

“Did you like your present?” Craig asked. 

Andrew breathed in deeply and smiled, feeling completely sated. “Yes,” he said, his head still foggy from the intensity of it all. His hand caressed Craig’s chest, making little circles over his chest as he caught his breath. “Very, very much.” He actually giggled as he met Craig’s eyes. “Thanks, bro.”

“I’m glad,” he replied, smiling.

“Did you?” he asked. “Did you enjoy being a dom? Where did you learn that stuff, anyway?”

Craig’s already sex-flushed face blushed a little more. “I actually did,” he said. “And you left a tab open on my laptop. I thought it was a hint.”

“Oh God,” Andrew said laughing. He buried his face in the pillow. “I’m suddenly glad that I’m the only other person who knows the password to your computer.”

“It was a bit shocking, at first,” Craig admitted. “But I imagined us like that and… well, I got curious. And then I did research and, surprisingly, it was kind of hot.”

“I’ll say,” he replied. They were quiet for a while as they cuddled in the aftermath of their sex. Andrew was about to drift off to sleep when Craig said something else.

“I want you to know that none of what I said really bothers me, bro,” he said. “And I would never lay a hand on you unless you consented.”

Andrew looked into his eyes and took his hand. He kissed it gently and then leaned in to kiss Craig. It was chaste and pure and gentle. “I know, bro,” he said. “And I would never ask you to do something that you weren’t comfortable with.”

“I was caught up in the moment and before I knew it, I did it,” he said. “But then you liked it and it was… so hot. Amazing.”

“I understand,” Andrew said. “We don’t have to do this all the time. Actually I don’t think I could handle it if we did. But if you’re in the mood and we have the time, I’d be willing.”

Craig released a breath and gave a relieved smile. “What did I do to deserve you, bro?” he asked.

“Funny,” he replied. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

Craig smiled and leaned over to kiss him. “I love you,” he whispered against his lips. “Merry Christmas, bro.”

Andrew smiled as he returned the kiss. “I love you, too, bro. Merry Christmas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun. Also, since I'm getting so close to 500 kudos, I'm going to add a bonus chapter for when the story reaches that point. 
> 
> Find me on Tumblr for various geek related nonsense! :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	21. True Bro's Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I ain't sayin' nothing. ;)

Andrew was sitting in a conference hall seated at a table surrounded by people in suits. It was the Pulitzer Prize announcement. Craig was next to him, smiling widely, looking absolutely stunning in his black tuxedo. Not the traxedo he had gotten him a couple days ago for Christmas, but an actual tuxedo. He pulled it off really well. Andrew himself was tense, though. As much as he would like to admire his boyfriend’s looks, his nerves wouldn’t let him. His leg was thumping nervously as he awaited the announcement of who would win the Pulitzer Prize this year. Suddenly his bowtie seemed too tight, too ridiculous. _I should take this off,_ he thought. _My daughter might win the Pulitzer Prize! I should have worn something classier than a bowtie. Shut up, this isn’t about you it’s about your daughter. I should relax. Deep breaths. In. Out. Shit, what if she has to give a speech? What if—_

Craig laid a hand on his and laced their fingers together. Immediately the gesture brought him back down to earth. “Relax, bro,” he said. “She’ll be fine. You look great.”

Andrew smiled and squeezed his hand and returned his attention to the stage. They were rehashing what each picture was and the stories behind them. Andrew suspected that they were just building the tension up to the official announcement of who the winner would be. He was biased, of course. The other pictures were great, but Amanda’s was objectively the best. It would be the first of many, many Pulitzer Prize photographs for sure. He was already planning for the day when she would break the record for The Most Number of Pulitzer Prizes. 

Finally, the moment came and the announcer opened the envelope with the name of the winner concealed inside. “And the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize is… Amanda Wilson!”

Andrew shot to his feet and cheered as the hall erupted into cheers and screams of applause. Amanda walked on stage with tears in her eyes to accept the award. Andrew had tears in his eyes as well. It was the crowning moment of his fatherhood. His little girl had won the Pulitzer Prize. Then he and Craig were on stage supporting Amanda on their shoulders while she held the prize in her hands. “We Are the Champions” was playing in the background. Andrew looked up at his daughter and she looked down smiling at him. 

“Papa,” she said. It was her voice, but definitely not her voice that came out of her mouth. “Wake up, Papa!”

“Wha—?” he asked. It was dark. He was snuggled in bed with warm, heavy comforter over his body. Someone was poking his shoulder. He opened his eyes. In the dark he could see Hazel standing by the bed in her pajamas, clutching a stuffed snow leopard, Francis, to her body.

“Hazel?” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“I had a bad dream,” she said quietly. Andrew’s Dad Instincts kicked in.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry,” he said, stirring awake just enough to shove Craig over. Craig rolled over away from him, mumbling incoherently. 

“Can I sleep with you and daddy?” she asked. 

“Of course, baby. Come on in.” Hazel climbed in between the two of them and laid down in the middle of the bed, wiggling around until she found a comfortable position. Craig stirred and mumbled, “Whosthere?” 

“It’s Hazel,” she replied. 

“Oh, hey Hazel,” he replied. “G’night.”

Andrew laughed softly and settled back down to sleep.   
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The first thing Craig noticed when he woke up was a tiny body that definitely wasn’t his bro snuggled up against him, using his chest as a pillow. And it was definitely drooling on his night shirt. He opened his eyes and saw one of his daughters on his chest between him and Andrew. From this angle he couldn’t tell which daughter it was. He also felt something soft and plushy. He lifted the comforter briefly and looked under it. Snow leopard. Francis. This was Hazel.

He heard the sound of a camera lens clicking and he looked over to see Andrew standing at the edge of the bed with his phone in his hand. He grinned and used the arm that Hazel wasn’t sleeping on to pose, holding up the victory sign. Andrew took a few more pictures of them in the pale morning light streaming in from the windows. 

“So, workout time?” Andrew asked, putting his phone down. 

“Bro, I can’t get up!” Craig whispered. “I’ll wake her up! Look at her!”

Hazel was so precious and peaceful when she was asleep. He wondered if Briar was aware of just how more often her sister came in to their room in the middle of the night. He never said anything. Hazel just had more bad dreams than Briar. She acted tough, like the “evil” twin, but really she felt more strongly, more intensely than her sister. She compensated for it by acting out or acting like Briar. He wasn’t supposed to have favorites, as a dad, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t especially treasure the moments he had with Hazel when she needed emotional support.

“Bad dream?” he asked. Andrew nodded. Hazel stirred, but all she did was roll over and go back to sleep.

“It’s a good day to sleep in, bro,” he said. Andrew raised his eyebrows a bit, but didn’t argue as he got back into bed. Craig smiled as Hazel claimed his arm as her new pillow. Andrew took it in stride and kissed her lightly on the top of her head.  
**********************************************************************

The perfectly good morning was ruined by Carl Jr barking outside, announcing to the world that he was awake and everyone else should be as well. Unfortunately, his size dictated that he had a fairly loud, booming bark. Andrew grudgingly woke up. The three of them were still in bed, though Hazel and Craig were definitely still asleep.

 _This would be the perfect day to surprise them with breakfast,_ he thought. He got out of bed and snuck out of the room, making sure to avoid the creaky floorboard and closed the door carefully behind him to make sure he didn’t make any noise. He snuck down the stairs and as soon as he rounded the corner into the living room, he noticed Briar sitting on the couch watching Gravity Falls with River. Carl Jr was on the couch and for once he wasn’t actually eating it. It was one of the early episodes, if he recalled correctly. 

“Is dad dead?” she asked.

“Nope,” he replied. “Just sleeping. Did you get River out of her crib on your own?”

“ _Dad’s_ sleeping in?” Briar asked turning towards him in shock. “Is he sick? And I got a step stool.”

“Nope, just sleeping in,” he insisted.

Briar’s eyes narrowed. “Are you a witch?”

“The term is warlock,” he said. “And I have cast a sleeping spell on your father that can only be broken by True Bro’s Kiss.”

Briar made a disgusted noise and turned back to her show. Andrew chuckled and headed to the kitchen. “How do you want your eggs?”

“Over easy,” she said. Yup, she’s her father’s daughter, he thought. She was driven, she worked hard (maybe a little too hard, considering her age), and just plain goofy at times. She was technically the younger sibling, but she was more like the first sibling. Hazel was definitely the protective sibling, though, no doubt about it.

He cooked up the eggs and bacon and got out a bag of shredded potatoes he had hidden in the fridge, making all the unhealthy breakfast foods that Craig selfishly reserved for their Bro Brunches. It technically was the perfect time for brunch, so Andrew didn’t feel at all bad. It was also the day after Christmas and he felt bad making people work the day after any major holiday. He also got out some oranges to appease his health nut boyfriend.

Sometime around 11:00 the food was ready and he heard the telltale footfalls that signaled the rest of the family was awake. Craig walked into the kitchen carrying a bleary eyed Hazel, who was still dozing a little bit on his shoulder. 

“I smell food,” Craig said, setting Hazel down in a chair. 

“It’s all in your head,” Andrew said. “I’m a warlock now. You only think you smell bacon, eggs, potatoes, and toast. Also apparently my sleeping spell wasn’t as good as I thought it was.”

“Sleeping spell?” Craig asked. “What breaks it?”

“True Bro’s Kiss,” Andrew said smirking. 

“I can always go back to sleep,” Craig said. He closed his eyes.

“You’re not sleeping, bro,” he said.

“Yes I am,” Craig replied, grinning. “How would you know, anyway? You’re just a new warlock, you’re still new at this.”

“Do you want a kiss or not?” he demanded. Craig shut up. Andrew grinned at his bro and kissed him softly on the lips. He returned the kiss lazily, his soft lips caressing Andrew’s gently.

Something banged on the table and they turned around to check on Hazel. Her head was on the table. “It’s too early for kissing,” she complained.

They laughed at her antics. Andrew turned back to pile some food onto various plates for the family. “You awake now, bro?” 

Craig chuckled. “Totally. 10/10 would recommend Sleeping Bro Spells.”

“Hmm…” Andrew hummed. “Maybe sometime I’ll use the advanced version of the spell.” He handed him a couple of the plates. He caught a hint of interest in Craig’s eyes and a mischievous grin.

“Advanced spell?” he asked. “How do you wake me up from that?”

“I’ll give you a hint,” he whispered. “It’s not a kiss.”

“Can’t wait, bro,” he said and he turned around to deposit a plate in front of his sleepy daughter and set the other down beside her and called Briar into the dining room. The five of them sat down to enjoy their first breakfast of the New Year. Carl Jr waited patiently for the kids to either sneak him food or put their plates down on the floor for him to lick eagerly. Then Hazel, who was now completely awake, demanded a game of Settlers of Catan. Craig, who had played exactly one game and became as competitive as his daughters, took River, claiming that she would bring him good luck. The competition was fierce. Briar, Hazel, and Craig vied for control of the board. Meanwhile, Andrew shocked them all when he amassed his territory and stole the game out from under them.

“You’re sleeping on the couch, tonight, bro,” Craig said, glowering from across the table. “You’re not welcome in my bed, you traitor.”

“All’s fair in love and war, bro,” Andrew said. “Besides, Carl Jr will keep me company, won’t you boy?”

Carl Jr barked and wagged his tail happily.

 _Life is good,_ he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter! :D
> 
> That was fast. Seriously, y'all I never thought that this extremely self-indulgent fic would get this big when I wrote that first little chapter back in August. It's really amazing. Thank you all.
> 
> Yada yada yada tumblr. :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


	22. Winter Fun for Everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a snow day. Everyone's excited for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***The first part of this chapter is NSFW***
> 
> Y'all, this is like 3 days late and I'm ashamed but in my defense, I had an exam for one of my grad classes so there's literally been nothing else on my mind lately. Also, we're nearing the end. It's sad.
> 
> The good news though is that this is probably going to be the first part of a series, so we're just nearing the end of part 1! Yaaaayyy!!! (Though depending on when I actually have time for writing the end of this part might not be up until the week of Thanksgiving because grad school is, shockingly, time consuming.)
> 
> Blah blah blah tumblr. :) https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/

One of the best things about Maple Bay, Maine was that the summers were mild and short. The downside, of course, was that the winters were long and bitter. That did, however, make for great snowman making weather, especially on the weekends, since nothing short of a bonafide blizzard, the kind that would last for days and leave a couple feet of snow, would get the kids out of school. Unfortunately, one such blizzard had just begun. The blizzard had come in the night and there was already 8 inches of snow on the ground in addition to the half foot that was already on the ground. 

It was a cold morning in early January. Craig and Andrew rose early, expecting just another morning of getting up, getting the girls ready, putting breakfast and lunches together, and getting them out the door to get to the bus before their morning workout. As soon as Andrew opened the curtains to look outside, though, he began to have his doubts.

“Uh, bro?” he said. 

“Yeah, bro,” Craig replied.

“You wanna check to see if the girls have school?” he asked.

Craig looked up and noticed his boyfriend staring out the window. Then he noticed the steady, heavy snowfall. He walked over and looked outside. 

“Snowpocalypse happened while we were sleeping, dude,” he joked. He turned around and grabbed his phone from the top of his drawers and started looking up the local news station. It took a while, with the weather, but eventually announced that the girls were indeed having a snow day. 

“So,” Andrew said turning around. He walked over to his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around his warm, bare chest. “We could just get our morning workout out of the way before the girls wake up…”

Craig returned the gesture and kissed him lightly and slowly on the lips. “Or?” he asked.

Andrew grinned and moved his arms around to rest his hands on Craig’s chest. “Or we could get back into bed. Have our own workout in here. Take our time waking up.” 

Craig grinned and dropped his hands to rest on the curve of his lover’s ass and squeezed gently. Andrew hummed into the kiss and rubbed his groin against Craig’s as he teased his nipples. Then Craig bent down and grabbed Andrew’s thighs and lifted him. Andrew gasped and laughed into Craig’s mouth as he wrapped his legs around his body and his arms around Craig’s neck. Craig looked up at him and Andrew nearly melted in his arms at the look of love, adoration, and lust in his eyes. This man, this wonderful, beautiful man, his best friend wanted him. 

Then, of course, Craig literally dropped him on the bed. Andrew couldn’t help but laugh. He heard him walk across the room to quietly lock the door against the odds that his kids would, for once, wake up on their own in the morning.

“Very romantic, bro,” he said, looking up. Craig was grinning like a fool as he knelt down on the bed and mouthed his crotch along the length of his erection. He slowly lowered his pants and continued his torturous assault on Andrew’s length. He mouthed and licked Andrew’s clothed erection and looked up at him. Andrew could only imagine what he looked like. Flushed, hot, his messy, shoulder length red hair falling around his face, his mouth slightly ajar as he watched his lover in his ministrations. 

“I’ve been waiting to do this all morning,” Craig whispered, staring straight into his eyes. Andrew’s head was empty of all intelligent thought as Craig opened the front of his boxers and wrapped his mouth around his dick and it disappeared into Craig’s hot, wet mouth. He gave a breathless moan as he felt Craig’s tongue tease the head of his cock, running along his length. He took it down to the root and swallowed and Andrew cursed softly as he felt the smooth, velvety warmth of Craig’s throat around his cock. Craig slowly bobbed his head on his cock, working him sensuously. Andrew wasn’t sure which he loved more, sucking Craig’s cock, or having Craig suck his. It was amazing either way. Then he thought of something they hadn’t done in a while and he grinned.

“Hey bro,” he whispered.

Craig popped off his cock. “Yeah?”

“Turn around,” he said. Craig grinned in understanding and turned his body around so that his groin was hovering above Andrew’s face. Andrew waited no time in relieving him of his pants and slowly jacked Craig’s thick, heavy cock in his hand. Craig moaned around his dick. He returned the favor by wrapping his lips around the head of Craig’s dick. He teased the head with his tongue and shivered as Craig swallowed his cock and moaned around it. Andrew took hold of Craig’s ass with both hands and worked his mouth around Craig’s cock. He moaned as the head reached the back of his throat and his balls in his face. 

Craig used one of his hands to massage Andrew’s balls and Andrew nearly lost it. He moaned around Craig’s cock and squeezed his luscious ass as he arched his back and thrust his cock into Craig’s mouth involuntarily. Craig chuckled around him and popped off his dick.

“You good, bro?” he asked. Andrew could practically hear his smug grin in his voice. 

Andrew moaned around head of his cock before he let his head fall back onto the bed. “God, Craig, I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last.”

Craig chuckled lowly. “Then you’re gonna love what’s coming next.”

Andrew looked down at his boyfriend as Craig swung his body around again to kneel in front of him. His heart started beating even faster as he watched Craig hover over him and used one hand to line Andrew’s cock up to his hole. It was slick, like Craig had known this would happen and prepped himself before Andrew woke up. He looked up at his bro. 

Craig was grinning down at him as he sank down on his dick. “Surprise, baby,” he said. Andrew looked up at him in awe. His hole was so tight, his ass was amazing, inside and out. It was hot and tight and wet. When Craig was fully seated on his dick, Andrew rested his hands on his muscular thighs, feeling the strength in his body. He looked up and Craig bit his lip as he adjusted to Andrew’s dick. They’d done this a few times since Craig had first tried it. But this was the first time Craig had tried riding him. It was both familiar and excitingly new at the same time. 

“You good, baby?” he asked, looking up at him.

Craig didn’t answer. He did, however, raise his body up until just the head of Andrew’s cock was inside him and lower himself down as he began to ride his boyfriend. Andrew reached down between Craig’s legs and began to pump Craig’s cock as he rode him. Craig moaned and threw his head back as he bounced on his cock, moaning quietly.

“Christ, bro, you feel so good,” he whispered reverently.

“You feel so amazing, bro,” he said. “You’re so tight!”

Andrew began to thrust up into Craig’s heat, going faster, thrusting up into him. Craig bent forward, letting Andrew have better access to him as he fucked his boyfriend, angling his thrusts to hit Craig’s prostate, Craig propped himself up with his hands next to his shoulder and leaned down to kiss him. Andrew paused in his thrusts as he returned the heated kiss. 

Craig leaned back and began riding his bro’s dick again, faster than before as he got used to the motion. He lowered his hand to wrap around his own cock and pumped himself. Andrew bit his lip as he ran his over his thighs and arms as Craig rode him, taking in the image of watching him pump his thick cock in his hand. It was a mesmerizing sight. He felt his balls start to rise and his stomach dropped and he began to thrust up again into Craig’s hole.

“Craig, bro, I’m close,” he whined. He thrust faster and Craig deliberately tightened his hole around him as he bounced on his dick. Andrew grasped his boyfriends hips as he came with a soft cry, feeling his dick pulse at it released his cum deep into Craig’s ass. He looked up at his boyfriend, still sitting on his dick, pumping his own faster. He felt his ass tighten again around his softening dick as Craig came to his climax.

“Oh, yes…” he moaned as his cock shot thick ropes of come out onto Andrew’s body. Some shot so far it hit his chin. Craig leaned back and looked down at him and grinned, completely blissed out. He got up and groaned as Andrew’s cock slipped out of his ass. He grinned as he thought of his seed leaking out of Craig’s ass. 

“Looking sexy, bro,” Craig said, down at him. Andrew grinned and wiped some of the cum up with his finger and began bringing it up towards his mouth. Craig grabbed his wrist and instead brought it up to his mouth and wrapped his lips around it.

Shit, Andrew thought. If we hadn’t just had sex, I’d be totally horny again. Craig lowered his head and began to lick up the cum covering Andrew’s body up, working his way up towards his chin. Andrew’s heart raced as he watched Craig lick up his own cum, reaching his chin and licked up the last of it and kissed him on the lips. Andrew opened his mouth and Craig’s tongue entered his mouth. There was still some in his mouth, but he realized with a rush that he had actually swallowed most of it. Craig kissed him deeply before he got up. Andrew swallowed, the taste of Craig’s seed lingering in his mouth.

“That was hot, bro,” Craig said, clearing hair out of his face. 

“I’ll say,” Andrew said, gasping. “We should get cleaned up before the girls wake up.”

Craig collapsed against the bed before he rolled off and headed to the bathroom. Andrew took a moment to catch his breath before he got up and followed him. This was going to be an amazing day.  
******************************************************************************************************************************  
The girls were excited for it to build snowmen and have snowball fights, but with the temperature in the single digits and wind chill making it even colder, they were confined to the living room to merely watch the snow fall.

Craig and Andrew had brought in bundles of wood from the porch to dry in case they lost power. Even so, one of the best parts about being stranded inside during a blizzard was having a fire in the fireplace. The twins were already begging for hot chocolate with marshmallows and even Craig was having a hard time denying that since they were stuck inside anyway, they might as well enjoy themselves. 

“I wonder how many babies will be born this year once fall rolls around?” Andrew wondered quietly. Craig snickered in response. 

“What’s so funny?” Hazel demanded, casting a suspicious look their way.

“Nothing, Hazel,” Craig said quickly. 

“Come to think of it, bro,” Andrew continued. “I’m surprised none of your kids are blizzard babies. River was born in April and the twins in July. Sometimes it seems all the kids in these parts are born in the last four months of the year.”

“But the twins are blizzard babies, bro,” he said. “They weren’t born here, though, you know. They were born in California.”

“Oh right,” Andrew replied. “Do they have many snow storms in California, then?”

“Smashley and I were up in Washington on a business trip when a freak snowstorm hit,” Craig explained. “We were stranded in the hotel with not much else to do. 9 months later we had twins.”

“Was it a shock?” he asked.

“You bet, bro,” Craig replied, smiling at the memory of his twins birth. “We didn’t want to know whether we were having a boy or girl so we didn’t have any ultrasounds. Smashley joked about having twins, though. Said the baby was too active to be just one kid. We were still shocked to find out that we had twin girls.”

Andrew chuckled. “I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if Amanda had had a twin,” he admitted. “She was a handful on her own as a kid, I’m not sure I would have survived her having a twin.”

Craig laughed and drank from his hot chocolate. “Speaking of which,” he said. “Amanda’s birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

Andrew nodded. “In a month,” he replied. “She had the awkward pleasure of being born on Valentine’s Day. And she’s going to be away at college for it.” 

“We’ll skype her, bro,” Craig said reassuringly. “You’ll get to see her, at least.”

“Yeah,” Andrew said, brightening a bit. “So how did River come to be? Freak snowstorm in August?”

Craig chuckled. “She was a Labor Day baby,” he said. “The twins were at a friend’s house for a sleepover.”

“Ah yes,” Andrew mused. “The blessing of sleepovers at other people’s houses.” 

“What are you two talking about?” Briar asked from the window.

“We’re discussing how our girls came to be in the world,” Andrew replied.

“Eww,” they chorused.  
******************************************************************************************************************************  
That evening after they had all had dinner and the blizzard was still roaring, they all made a couch fort out of the cushions and some blankets in front of the fire and started telling ghost stories. River was cuddling with Arnold and Carl Jr, who had wormed his way beneath the fort as well. Craig and Andrew were expert couch fort craftsmen, utilizing the couches themselves to help construct it. 

Hazel somehow had no shortage of “My friend’s, cousin’s friend true story” stories that were simultaneously really spooky but also kind of unbelievable. Andrew wondered if her friend came from an adventurous family that was distantly (or perhaps not so distantly) related to Robert Small. Briar’s stories were rather tame, in comparison. Tales of haunted houses and such. 

Craig was even worse at ghost stories, unfortunately. He was hopeless. His stories tended to be strange rather than scary, usually involving haunted gyms or people running through haunted forests. Interesting premises, but some of them didn’t even have ghosts. River kind of ruined the mood when she told a rambling story of how Arnold went on some adventures with butterfly fairies to the bottom of the ocean and the mermaid kingdom. Everyone applauded her enthusiastically when she was done, though.

Then it was Andrew’s turn. He told a chilling tale in which all the characters did everything not you’re not supposed to do in scary stories. Go driving on a dark and stormy night? Check. Go inside the creepy house conveniently near where your car broke down? Check. Open the creepy door with the squeaky hinges? Check. Go down into the basement? Check. Run away and make out in the middle of the woods? Check. Dog is the only sensible living thing in the whole story and is the only one who comes out of it in one piece because she high tailed it out of there in the first 5 minutes? Check. 

By the time the story was over, the twins were sufficiently scared and River was fast asleep in Craig’s arms. They applauded quietly so that they wouldn’t wake her.

“Well tiny bros,” Craig said, yawning. “Now that you’ve made sure none of us will get any sleep tonight, I’m gonna go to bed. Coming, bro?” He headed towards the stairs to put River to bed. 

“Yeah, in minute,” he replied. He stretched and cracked his back before he stood up. The weather was making all his joints stiff. “What are you two gonna do?”

Hazel and Briar grinned. “We’re gonna camp out here with Carl Jr,” Hazel said. Briar went over to the closet and got out a couple thermal sleeping bags, perfect for sleeping on either cold ground or cold floors.

“Well in that case, have fun,” he said. “Don’t stay up too late.”

“We won’t,” they chorused, too cooperatively. Andrew was almost certain that they were going to stay up all night, but school was cancelled tomorrow so it wasn’t a huge deal. He headed up the stairs. Craig was already in bed by the time he got to their room. 

“Hurry up bro, the bed’s getting cold,” Craig said.

“That’s shocking,” Andrew grinned. “You’re practically a hot box.”

Craig chuckled. “You love it, bro. Don’t deny it.”

Andrew smiled and changed into his pajamas. He climbed into bed and Craig wrapped his arm around him so Andrew could rest his head on his shoulder, snuggling into his comfortable warmth. Soon Craig was snoring softly and Andrew let the sounds carry him off to sleep.


	23. What Comes Next

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all, this is late because my mom spent the weekend in the hospital and it was all kind of sudden, I've been playing catch-up with my grad school stuff. The next chapter will also be late more likely than not. It will be the last chapter of this story.
> 
> But! It will only be the end of part 1! Part two will start being posted once Thanksgiving break is done/in December. So there will only be a brief time without Andrew and the gang.

It was three days before the snow finally lightened to just some flurries. By then there was nearly three feet of snow on the ground and the city was effectively shut down because no one could get out of their homes. Craig and Andrew had gone out a few times every day to shovel snow off the driveway in place of their workouts, but the roads were still covered in snow. There was no going anywhere until the teams of snow trucks could get out and clear the streets enough so people could actually drive. By now some people would be nearly out of food. 

Craig was starting to get a little stir crazy, actually. There were only so many times they could sit around the house watching tv or playing board games or making s’mores and hot chocolate (though Andrew argued that there was no such thing as too many s’mores and hot chocolate and the girls apparently agreed). In fact, they had all gone to the kitchen to see if they could find any more because they had already exhausted their supplies yesterday. The house was clean, so there wasn’t much to do there. He’d already done his morning workout and cleaned off from that. He’d done a little work from home, what little he could get done with everyone snowed in, anyway. There wasn’t much to do. 

“Daddy, daddy!” he heard. He opened his eyes and saw River running over to him. He smiled.

“What is it, sweet pea?” he asked.

“I wanna play tugawar wit Carl!” she said, holding up her length of knotted rope. Sure enough, Carl Jr. was nearby wagging his tail expectantly. He followed River around everywhere. 

Craig got up off the couch and down onto the floor. River sat in his lap and called for Carl to come over and the game began. He was surprised by how strong Carl Jr. was getting. They’d had him for only a few months but he was getting huge! He had planned to half-heartedly play so the game would be fun for River, but he found that he had to actually put in some effort to win.

“Pull, daddy, pull!” she shouted. Craig pulled with a little more force and they finally wrested the rope from Carl Jr.’s mouth. Craig leaned back to lay on the floor and grabbed River and held up above him.

“We won, daddy!” she said. She was beaming and Craig lightly tossed her up in the air briefly and she came down laughing. Craig got up and flew her around the room singing “We Are the Champions”. Until the twins came in from the kitchen wanting to know what was going on. Though between River’s giggling and the rope on the floor and Carl Jr. barking for round 2, it was pretty easy to figure out. Then Andrew showed up.

“Good news!” he announced. “I found more hot chocolate and marshmallows!”

“Papa, papa!” River shouted, squirming in Craig’s hands. “Papa, we won!”

“You did?” he asked walking over and trading his hot chocolate for the wriggly toddler. “How’d you do it?”

“Daddy’s strong!” she said. 

“Yes, he’s very strong,” Andrew said, glancing at him. Craig blushed at the praise and hid his face in Andrew’s hot chocolate. “He’s also a chocolate thief!”

Craig grinned and rushed away to the couch and away from his boyfriend. Andrew put River on the floor and went after him. Craig ran over to the middle of the living room and held the mug of hot chocolate high above his head while Andrew followed quickly, trying to jump up and get it, but Craig had the advantage of being just a couple inches taller than him, and it was no use. Craig grinned at his boyfriend.

“Ready to give up, bro?” he asked. Andrew glared at him. He reached up again and Craig kept it away from him again by standing on his toes. He looked down at his bro through lidded eyes. Andrew looked up at him and he leaned in to kiss his bro. The twins protested vocally, not that Craig cared. Craig sighed into the kiss and lowered his arms. Andrew shot out and grabbed the mug, laughing in triumph. 

“If you wanted a kiss, you could have just asked,” Andrew said. 

“Where’s the fun in that, bro?” he replied.   
***************************************************************  
Later that evening, while the girls were dozing together on the couch, Craig and Andrew were sharing a drink by the fire. Andrew was working himself up to ask something. Pity the drink wasn’t alcoholic, though it might have been just as well.

“What’s eating you, bro?” Craig asked softly. He huffed in response.

“I’m wondering where our relationship is going,” he said. “Just, you know, we’ve been together for almost 9 months now and everything is going great, from what I can tell. I was just wondering what you thought.”

Craig paused and took a drink. Andrew tried not to be nervous, but it had been a long time since he’d been in a serious relationship like this one. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this happy. At least not since Alex had died almost a decade ago. 

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, actually,” Craig said. “You’re my best friend. You’re an amazing father to my daughters. I love you so much, I can’t imagine my life without you in it again.”

“So you…” Andrew trailed off. There was a lump in his throat. He couldn’t say anything, he could only wait to hear what he had to say.

“I want to be with you forever, bro,” he said. “I want to grow old with you, I want to share my life with you, watch my kids grow up with you, all those really cheesy things. Family pictures, wedding bells, graduations, awkward family holidays, intimidating the girls’ significant others together. All those things.”

Andrew rested his head on Craig’s shoulder and tried not to cry. He thought once that he had lost the love of his life and despaired at ever finding one ever again. But here he was, sitting by the fire with a family he loved as much as he loved Amanda, as he had loved Alex when he was alive. It was a beautiful life.

“But,” Craig said. Andrew looked up at him, the tears in his eyes ready to fall down his cheeks. “I only want those things if you want them too.”

Craig turned himself around and took his hand in his. “So tell me, bro,” he whispered. “What do you want?”

Andrew felt his tears escape his eyes, but somehow he found the words. “I want to see your face every morning when I wake up,” he said. “I want to see your girls grow into women with you every step of the way. I want to go to sleep every night in your arms. I want to take you home one day and piss my family off with another beautiful man that I intend to share my life with. I want everything, if you’ll have me.”

Craig set his mug down on the tiles in front of the fireplace and took his face in his hands, wiping away the tears that were flowing freely down his face. “I swear,” he whispered. “I will always love you. Forever.”

“Bro…” he said, staring into his eyes.

Craig smiled. “Bro.” He kissed his forehead. 

_Life is good,_ Andrew thought.  
***************************************************************  
The next day was technically the start of the weekend and if there was one thing everyone needed to do, it was get out of the damn house. Even the girls were getting bored of hanging around all day every day. However, one good thing about having nothing to do was that the girls had figured out something to do with Carl when the blizzard was over. Carl was now big enough to start learning how to cart things around and girls had their dad go out to the garage in search of the sled.

About an hour later, Andrew and Craig had figured out how to securely fasten the sled to Carl’s body. The girls piled onto the sled with River sitting on Briar’s lap and they all took a family trip to the park just to get out of the house. There was still a few feet of snow on the ground, certainly too much to make use of it or have fun unless it involved making tunnels or igloos, which Andrew would have been down for, if any of them had any idea how to make igloos or snow tunnels. To Andrew’s amazement, Carl didn’t complain at all about having to drag the girls behind him. River was having the time of her life shouting “Mush” at Carl to get him to go faster. Any other time, Craig would have obliged and quickened the pace to a jog, but the sidewalks were still somewhat slippery. 

Andrew was at something of a loss for words. He couldn’t get what Craig said last night out of his head. He was picturing what forever would look like with Craig in his life. His girls would one day be angsty teenagers. They would have significant others, part time jobs, varsity sports, prom dates, college applications. Everything he had gone through with Amanda alone, he would get to do with Craig and his daughters. He had already seen River’s first steps and heard her first words. She called him Papa. All the girls called him Papa. Except Amanda, anyway. He would get to see River grow up. She would probably never remember what her life was like before he was her Papa. 

He could picture Craig’s face, still full of joy and life, marked with laugh lines and wrinkles, his hair going grey and making him look distinguished and handsome. He wondered what they would look like in 10 years, when the twins would graduate from high school, if Craig would still find him appealing, or if they would go on adventures across the country once the girls were out of the house and the two of them had retired. He wondered what it would be like for them to be grandparents together. 

Andrew wanted more than anything to find out.


	24. The Way You Look Tonight

It was Valentine’s Day and Andrew was an emotional wreck. He had been working himself up into a frenzy. It hadn’t even been a full year since they had met each other again after years apart. They had been together for a grand total of 10 months. It wasn’t exactly a huge length of time. If he had been half his age, 10 months wouldn’t have been that long at all. Certainly not long enough to start thinking of their lives together. At 20, that was generally kind of creepy. Though in fairness, he and Alex had started a family right out of college. They had been planning to be together for their entire live and they had had many happy years together, raising Amanda. 

It had been so long since Andrew had thought about having a life partner. Never in a million years would he have guessed that it might have been Craig. Not before they had run into each other again last year. 

Craig had also been more secretive and aloof than usual. He never really said what was on his mind, beyond that he had a plan for the evening. He refused to elaborate. The last time he had tried to figure out what was planned, Craig had picked him up and tossed him on the couch to tickle him into submission. The guy had to know how agitated he was, but there was no helping it. 

“I’m 1000% sure that they’re up to something,” he said to his daughter. He was skyping her for her birthday. “Even River looks like she knows something that I don’t!”

“Pops, I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason for that,” she replied. “And it might be that they do know something you don’t.”

“That’s not helping, Panda,” he said, grinning. “You know that I’m a chronic over thinker.”

“Yup, and I know that some people decided co-opt my birthday and plan great romantic gestures for their significant others,” she said drily. “So if the dude does have something planned, could it be that bad?”

“Noooo, I suppose not…” he replied. “I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“Pops, it’s been, what, 10 years since you’ve had a Valentine to steal attention away from your beloved daughter?” she said. “I would be concerned if you weren’t nervous.”

“Speaking of Valentines…” he said. “Got any exciting plans for your birthday, kiddo?”

“Actually,” she said. “I forgot to mention that I have a hot date with this guy from my digital editing class.”

“Do I need to have the talk with this disgusting lech—I mean, fine young man?” he asked.

“No problem, Pops,” she replied. “If he turns out to only have one thing in mind, my roommate’s got my back.”

They chatted for a while longer about their respective plans for the evening and if Amanda enjoyed her birthday present (since her dorm room was too small for anything she didn’t really need, the gift was basically just a gift card to a restaurant relatively near campus). She was planning on using it with her friends some time, rather than for the date she was going on tonight. Eventually he had to leave to get ready for his own date. He reluctantly bid farewell and good luck to Amanda.

“Try not to worry too much, Popsicle,” she said. “Just be yourself.”

“You know who you’re talking to, right?”

Amanda just laughed and signed out of the skype session. Andrew hesitantly closed his laptop and wandered off to get ready for his hot date.  
***************************************************************  
Craig was literally losing his shit. He was pacing back and forth in his closet as he deliberated on what to wear. Which he normally didn’t care about that much, but since tonight was supposed to be special, he wanted to put actual thought into it. Hence the actual crisis he was having while he tried to figure his shit out.

_Should I go with a white shirt? A red one? Yeah, red makes sense it’s Valentine’s day. But wait, what tie do I wear? Should I wear a black suit? Wait, duh, why wouldn’t I? I can’t wear blue on Valentine’s day. It’s sad. But wait… I wear blue all the time. Am I a sad person? God, when did I become so stereotypically gay?_

He really needed to get ready before Andrew was finished skyping Amanda. He wanted to surprise him, and also be surprised by him. Which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to manage when boyfriends lived in the same house, it turned out. He finally settled on a solid black suit with a dark red button up shirt and a tie that was a brighter shade. He got dressed quickly and went into the bathroom to style his hair into that spiky style that Andrew loved, but he didn’t actually wear unless he wasn’t at work. He tended to encourage more professional appearances with the people who worked for him. 

He heard the door open and close and then the closet door opened and closed. Craig took one last look in the mirror and judged that he was set and quickly sneaked out of the master suite and rushed downstairs. He wandered into the kitchen where he found the girls and Smashley were mixing together some cookie dough with a bowl of red sugar and a bag of Hershey kisses. 

“Hey bros,” he said, grinning, trying to mask his nerves. “What’s cooking?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in, dude,” his ex-wife replied. “Lookin’ good!”

Craig chuckled and rubbed his neck. “Thanks, dude,” he said. “And thanks for agreeing to watch the girls tonight.”

“No problem. Now, come on Craig, don’t be nervous,” she said. “Everything is going to be fine. You ready?”

“I’m pretty sure,” he said. “Just you know…”

“Yeah, I get it,” she said sympathetically. “By the way, Briar has something for you.”

Craig looked at his daughter. She dashed over to her backpack and he bit down the instinctive reflex to tell her not to run in the house, not that she and Hazel ever listened. She took out a big, pink foam heart cut in the uneven style of a child with scissors. She held it out with a big, proud smile on her face. “Bro” was written on it in big, rounded letters. 

“We made these in art class,” she said. “You pin it to your shirt, see?”

“Aww that’s sweet, tiny bro. And you wrote our thing on it!” he said, picking her up. “Thanks, Briar.”

“Yeah, we figured if you won’t stop calling each other that, we might as well just get used to it,” she said. “Andrew’s getting one, too! But Hazel made that one.”

“Aren’t you supposed to make these for people you’re interested in,” he asked. “You know, like a boy, not your parents?”

“Dad,” she said. “Boys are still gross. I don’t care what anyone else says.”

“Well, thank goodness for small favors,” he replied, kissing her on the cheek. 

“Besides,” she continued. “You and Papa aren’t boys. You’re bros. At least, that’s what mom says.”

Craig laughed, finally feeling some of the nervous energy begin to dissipate. “Heck yeah, we are, tiny bro.”

He pinned the heart to his suit and settled down to wait for Andrew to come down for their date. River was having lots of fun with the flour and Craig steered clear of the cookie station, lest his suit get ruined by River’s toddler aged antics. Hazel showed him Andrew’s heart, which was red and decorated with the word “bro” but with silver, glitter paint. Hazel, for her struggle in school, had very good handwriting. There were also flowers drawn on it whereas Briar had just written, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Bro!” and that was that. She wasn’t as artistic as Hazel.

Finally they heard footsteps walking down the stairs and Andrew walked into the kitchen in a matching black suit with a white button down and a burgundy vest and a red bowtie. Craig’s mouth went dry. It was a rare occasion for Andrew to dress up, but he cleaned up nice. His hair was in its usual pony tail, which he was glad to see. It didn’t really count as a hobby, but he really enjoyed pulling his hairband out of his hair and seeing it fall down around his face. Craig was suddenly thinking of situations where he could have an excuse to drag him along to formal occasions so he could see him in suits. He suddenly wanted to go shopping for suits with this man just to see what he would look like in them. He was the most handsome man Craig had ever seen, there was no mistaking it.

Andrew was the first to recover. “You look great, bro,” he said. Then his eyes fell on the heart pinned to his suit and he grinned. “Where’d you get the heart?”

Craig chuckled and rubbed his neck again, but Hazel answered first. “Briar gave it to him!” she said and ran up to him with her heart. “Here’s yours! You’re ‘sposed to pin it to your suit!”

“Thanks Hazel,” he said sweetly. “I’ll put it on right now.”

Craig cleared his throat, having finally found his voice. “You look amazing, bro,” he said. He walked up to him and kissed him lightly. He smelled of aftershave and cologne and Craig was nuts for it.

Andrew blushed. “Thanks, bro,” he said. He pinned the heart to his suit as promised and looked back up. “You ready to go?”

Craig responded by taking his hand and lacing their fingers together. “Ready when you are, dude.”

“Oh! Before you go,” Smashley shouted from the kitchen. “I’m taking the girls back to my place tonight as soon as they’re done with their stuff.”

“What? Why?” Craig asked. “When did this happen?”

Smashley gave him a look. The look she reserved for when he asked a dumb question. “Dude, it’s Valentine’s Day.”

Realization dawned on him and he felt his blush creeping up on his face. “Oh. Right.” he said eloquently. “Thanks. Behave yourselves, girls.” He rushed out of the house leaving behind a chorus of questions about why them going to their mother’s house just because it was Valentine’s Day.

Andrew was grinning at him. “Shut up,” he said, though he couldn’t help but grin himself.

“I didn’t say anything,” he said through bits of helpless giggling. “So, what are we doing after all this? We just going to come home and sleep? Is Smashley getting the girls away from your snoring?”

“I’m never hearing the end of this,” Craig said as they got in the car.  
***************************************************************  
Craig was uncharacteristically closed lipped about where they were going. Andrew wasn’t nervous. Well he was, but not about this. He was trying his best not to fidget and be obvious that he was nervous. Which was sabotaged by the silence that stretched on and on as they drove wherever Craig had in mind. Andrew hadn’t felt more awkward around him since they first met in college. And that was saying something, considering how awkward their first date had been when they were surrounded by thirsty softball moms. Finally Craig turned into a parking lot and Andrew’s jaw dropped.

“The Boar’s Crown?” he asked. It was by far the fanciest restaurant in the area. 

“It’s our first Valentine’s Day together, bro,” he said. “I wanted to make it special for you.”

Andrew felt his face start to burn. “How did you get a reservation for this place?”

Craig smiled. “I know the owner.”

They walked into the restaurant hand-in-hand and Andrew’s jaw dropped again when he saw who the host was. 

“Robert???” he exclaimed. “This is your restaurant?”

Robert looked… clean. And sober. He was wearing a nice suit and his face was clean shaven. He grinned at him as he took their coats.

“What? You thought I was jobless?” he asked as he hung their coats up. 

“Well…” Andrew replied. “I kinda thought you were a tomb raider or something.”

“Only when I’m hunting cryptids,” he said. Robert marked their arrival down and grabbed two menus. “Right this way.”

The restaurant was a large and open with all the ambiance of a high end establishment. The lights were turned down and The tables all had red, pink, or white tablecloths with matching napkins neatly folded in crystal wineglasses. There was also a cleared space in the center of the room with an elevated wooden platform. Nearby, there was another stage with microphones and a piano.

A dancefloor, Andrew realized. I wonder if we’ll dance. God, when was the last time I actually danced with someone. Do remember how?

Robert broke his reverie by presenting their table to them. It was, shockingly, near the dancefloor. Andrew’s heart started racing. Well, more than it already was He wasn’t sure whether he was excited or terrified.

“Enjoy your evening, lovebirds,” Robert smirked. 

“Thanks, dude,” Craig said and he sat down. Andrew hastily sat down across from him. Craig grinned, bemused. “You okay, bro?”

“I’m fine,” he whimpered. He looked up and met Craig’s eyes. Craig’s look had gone from bemused to smug. 

He’s planning something, he thought, scowling at his lover. He promptly opened the menu and hid behind it. 

This was definitely the fanciest restaurant Andrew had ever been to. The meal was served in several courses and Andrew had never heard of most of the foods outside of the entrée section. Even then there were foods that he had never heard of. None of them actually listed a price. Thankfully their waitress was patient and knowledgeable about it and answered all his questions. He placed his order and tried not to be concerned about what the price would end up being. 

“So is this your first time here, dude?” Andrew asked. 

Craig smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, actually,” he admitted. “I’ve been to other of Robert’s restaurants in the area, but this is the best by far.”

“You were never curious about it?” he asked.

“Well…” he said. “There was never anyone I cared about enough to take out here.”

Andrew blushed furiously and couldn’t help but wish that they still had some menus to hide behind. He contented himself with hiding behind his wineglass. It was a lovely, earthy white wine. It didn’t help the blush at all. He didn’t have to look up to know that Craig was grinning at him. He did, however, hear Craig pour himself a glass. 

“A toast?” he asked. Andrew looked up at him. 

“What do we toast to?” he asked, smiling. 

“To us, of course, bro,” he said. “To our first Valentine’s Day together.”

Andrew smiled as they clinked their glasses together. “The first of many.”

It was Craig’s turn to blush as he sipped from his glass. The first course arrived and the music began to play. It wasn’t anything special. Just someone playing the piano on the stage. He wondered what kind of music they would play. It was hard to hope for a dance when he didn’t know they were going to play next. The songs played and a few couples got up to dance. Some of them did ballroom type stuff, but most of the young ones especially just sort of swayed with the music. 

Craig seemed antsy. Like he was pumping himself up mentally for something. _Does he have something planned, too?_ Andrew thought. _Oh God, what if we steal each other’s thunder? What if it’s really awkward? What if I totally screw up? Maybe I should just hold off on all—_

Suddenly the pianist began to play one of those old-fashioned love songs, the kind that they used to play in black and white movies back in the day. Andrew could swear he knew the cords to this song, but he couldn’t remember what the song was. Then Craig stood up and held out his hand. 

“Come on, let’s dance,” he said. 

Andrew’s heart was racing. The last/only time he had danced in front of so many people was when he married Alex. Well, it was a partner ceremony. Gay marriage hadn’t been legal at the time, but still. He wondered if he still knew how to follow. He took Craig’s hand and followed him to the dance floor. Craig’s hand went to his waist and, amazingly, he gracefully led him in a waltz. The pianist began to sing.

_Some day, when I'm awfully low_  
When the world is cold  
I will feel a glow just thinking of you  
And the way you look tonight 

_Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm_  
And your cheeks so soft  
There is nothing for me but to love you  
And the way you look tonight 

“You chose to dance during an old Frank Sinatra song?” Andrew asked.

“What?” Craig asked, grinning. “You like old movies and stuff like that.”

“You know me so well, bro,” he replied. He stared into Craig’s eyes as they danced. Craig smiled down at him. Somehow the moves came back to him and he managed to move through the steps without stepping on Craig’s toes. They danced through the first song, then the second. Then the third song played and it wasn’t an old love song. It was definitely a newer song. An alto vocalist had come on stage to sing this one. He didn’t recognize it. It was a beautiful song, though. When the song reached the first chorus, he started to tear up. 

_I have died every day waiting for you_  
Darling, don't be afraid.  
I have loved you for a thousand years  
I'll love you for a thousand more 

He rested his head against Craig’s shoulder as they danced. He felt his lover softly kiss his cheek as the music played on. When the song finished, he stopped, took Craig’s face in his hands and looked up into his eyes. They were shining as his arms wrapped around his waist.

“I love you so much, Andrew,” he said. “I never thought I’d have a chance to be with you. But here you are.”

“I never thought I would ever have a second chance at love,” Andrew replied. “But then you ran into my life, literally, and the year since then have been the most amazing, happiest of my life. Well, aside from the months when Amanda first started sleeping through the night.”

Craig laughed. “I’d be offended, but I know what you mean, bro,” he said. 

Andrew backed out of Craig’s embrace and took his hands in his. “You’re the most amazing person in the world, Craig,” he said, dropping to one knee. He pulled out the box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the ring he had bought. “Craig Cahn will you marry me?” 

Craig looked down at him, stunned. “Dude!”

Andrew’s heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“I was gonna ask you, dude!” he said, bringing out his own little black box. There was a ripple of laughter from the other customers, who of course had taken notice of the proposal on the dance floor. 

“Sooo…” Andrew said. “Is that a yes?”

“Dude! Of course I’ll marry you,” Craig said. Andrew’s face broke into a grin as he took the ring and put it on Craig’s finger to their audience’s enthusiastic applause. Andrew got up in time for Craig to pull him into a passionate kiss. Andrew blushed as people whistled and cheered. 

“I love you, bro,” he whispered against Craig’s lips. 

“I love you, too,” Craig replied. They returned to their table, where their waitress was waiting for them with another bottle of wine. 

“Congratulations,” she said, smiling. “This bottle comes with our compliments. Enjoy!”

They thanked her and she left to get their food. Craig picked up the previous bottle and poured a glass for them both. 

In the background the alto sang a lovely song to other dancing couples while they spent the evening enjoying each other's company. Andrew couldn't help but think that it applied to them perfectly.

_I only know what I know_  
The passing years will show  
You've kept my love so young, so new 

_And time after time_  
You'll hear me say that I'm  
So lucky to be loving you 

“You know what, bro?” Craig asked.

“What?” Andrew asked, amused that his boyfrie— fiancé was still using that word from their college days. He doubted that they would ever stop.

“Life is good,” Craig said, holding up a glass.

Andrew held up his glass and they toasted. “To life.”

“Our life,” Craig said. “And to our new adventure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 is done! I may come back and edit this later, but still. Part 2 will probably not come around until sometime after finals, so it will be a bit. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up with this story, I love you all! <3
> 
> *grad student zombie noises* https://leisurelypanda.tumblr.com/


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